Hyrule Adventure
by ShadowFoxMoon
Summary: Zelda X INU Kagome is suddenly transported to Hyrule, where she soon meets a elf-man named Link, and her new adventure in the world of Hyrule begins. Link/Kag ((REDONE / REWRITTEN))
1. Kagome's Disappearance

I am completely rewriting my old Zelda/Inuyasha story with the same name. I have been meaning to do this for years, but never had the time, I still don't, but it needs to be done- a lot of my stories need to be done, really, but redoing a story won't take much effort, and I can work on it between my job, and writing my book. Something to fiddle with, that won't drain me when I'm done, and I have something to look off of.

Long ago, whenever I talk to someone about the fact I wanted to redo this story, they all would say the same thing: "No! Don't redo it! It's a great story!" I didn't mean I wanted to get rid of it and make a new one, it will still be the same story but so many people loved it, they didn't want it changed.

When I finished the old story years ago, you must admit that it was badly written, grammar wise, there's a few plot holes not explained, and I have grown a lot as a writer since then. I just wanted to tweak and fix those problems, but I would have to start from scratch to do it.

Since people have said they did not want me to fix it, I decided to redo the story, but post it as a new story, so that my old one will still be available to read for everyone. Hopefully with this choice, everyone wins.

I don't own Zelda, the game, or Inuyasha.

Unbeta-ed

_**Story**_

The sky was clear and cloudless, a perfect, nice day. Days such as this almost made her forget her past and tough experiences, and allowed her a few moments peace…

Kagome sighed as she stood below the God Tree, staring into its leafy branches with a blank expression on her face. Memories flooded her as she looked at the small notch that was forever carved into the trunk, and for an instant a figure appeared, trapped by an arrow, where he would rest for 50 years.

Her gaze lowered, and her eyes focused on another cut into the tree, chest height, and larger in size. She hummed to herself, and reached up, touching the gap, lightly trailing her fingers along the smoothly cut edges. As she stood there, the past took up most of her thoughts, unaware that the sword resting on her hip, glowed softly.

A soft thump was heard behind her, yet she was not alarmed by it, and just continued to look at the tree.

"I knew you would be here." A gruff voice spoke as he walked up to her.

"I wasn't hiding." She lowered her hand, and glanced at him over her shoulder. Her comment made the dog demon give a small snort in response, and the corners of her lips curved upwards slightly in satisfaction. "I'm surprised you even came looking for me, and are not with the others in the village." She turned to fully face him, the staff in her other hand giving a small jingle from the movement.

"You mean you are surprised I left Kikyo." He knew what she was getting at, and he turned his head away, stuffing his hands inside of his sleeves.

"Is there something you want, Inuyasha?" Her tone seemed more heated then she intended, but her words were effective, for he turned his head back towards her, his ears twitching from the sound of her calling him by name.

"Do I have to want something from you every time I see you?"

"Why else?"

"Maybe I want to check and see if you are okay-" She snorted through her nose and he immediately got upset and reacted, huffing. "Hell-!" He threw his hands in the air in defeat. "Might surprise you to know I came to talk with you."

"Really?" She turned her head slightly, and was genuinely surprised.

"Yeah..." He looked to the ground, as if embarrassed.

"About the shards?"

"No."

"Naraku?"

"No."

"Shippo and the others?"

"No." He shook his head.

"About the village?" She narrowed her eyes at him in distrust.

"No."

"You want to talk about Kikyo." She stated as if it were fact.

"N-…" He paused for a moment, then he shook his head. "I want to talk about you, alright!" He looked away from her, and a small amount of color appeared across his nose. "Damn…" She had a confused look on her face, as if he just grew another head. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Fine…?" She shifted in her spot, the whole scene making her feel uncomfortable and strange. What is going on? He is up to something.

"How is your family?" He glanced back at her and she raised an eyebrow.

"Fine." The grip on her staff tightened.

"Do you need to check on them soon—"

"What are you getting at, Inuyasha?" She narrowed her eyes at him again, a frown on her face.

"Damnit Kagome, I'm just trying to be nice!"

"I don't like you nice—You are freaking me out!"

"What? I can't be nice to you—"

"No! You are never nice!" This time it was his turn to look at her strangely and she huffed. She looked away from him, and at the ground. Her anger subsided and she sighed. "Sorry." She found herself apologizing.

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, before she felt a cold touch against her cheek—She pulled away from him, her anger reappearing as she glared at him questionably. He just stood there for a moment, frozen, with his hand outstretched, touching the air, with a saddened look in his amber orbs. His ears lowered and he sighed. "You won't forgive me, will you?"

"How could I?" She turned her back on him, and started walking towards her bag, that was resting on the ground, at the bottom of the tree trunk. Her sword was hitting against her left hip in rhythm with her movement, while her quiver of arrows was hitting against her right. "You were so quick to forget, and replace me—"

"I thought you were dead!" He shouted, upset by her comment. "We all did!" His words made her pause. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know!" She shouted back, her hand balled into a fist by her side, while the other gripped her staff until her knuckles turned white. "Search harder! Something!"

"We searched everywhere…" His tone lowered, and was laced with regret and sadness. "But we never gave up, I swear." He walked up to her, and placed his hand on her shoulder, this time she did not push him away. She sighed, her anger dispersing. "We needed Kikyo's help to find the shards, so we could locate and kill him." He removed his clawed hand, and moved forward. He reached her pack, and bent down, picking it up. The bottle of shards gave off a soft jingling from inside one of the small pouches in the bag, as he slung it over his shoulder. "Come on, before Shippo throws another fit about you being gone for so long." He started walking, not even bothering to ask her if she was ready to go back or not. She rolled her eyes at him. But she was used to it.

"Yeah, you take the light load…" She huffed when she reached out to the tree, where her boomerang bone was leaning against, and hefted the heavy weapon, placing it onto her back. "Have me carry the heavy stuff." The staff in her hand jingled as she walked several steps behind him, and they continued their way to the village. Inuyasha gave an amused snort from ahead of her.

"You need the exercise, you are getting fat anyway." He joked with a fanged grin.

"What did you just say?" She reached out and gripped the heavy weapon that was placed on her back with a vein appearing on the side of her forehead in rage.

"Nothing…"

"That's what I thought." She hummed, lowing her hand from her weapon.

They both walked in silence, back to the village. The stroll was calming, as the noises from the animals around them in the forest added to the effect and soothed her. She wasn't sure exactly why, but being in the forest, hearing the sounds of the nature around her and walking among the tree was a peaceful experience for her-

"Hey, Kagome?" Well, she was enjoying it while it lasted, anyway…

"Yes?" She moved her gaze from the trees, to the familiar white fuzzy triangles that were perched on top of his head.

"I've been at the village for a few weeks now." She knew where this was headed. "We should move on, and start searching for Naraku again." Kagome sighed and looked down at her brown shoes, as a small distraction.

"You didn't want to talk to me." She stated matter of fact. "You just wanted to pretend to be nice to me, so you could sneak in the fact that it was time to leave." Her words caused him to fumble slightly and she knew she hit the nail on the head. "I admit that your strategy was different than normal—usually you just order us around and tell us to leave or when to stay—" She paused when an idea came to her mind. "Kikyo told you to treat me more nicely, then you might get what you wanted—isn't that right?" That's why he left her.

She knew that he wouldn't leave Kikyo's side without a good reason, and wasn't just there to see her…

Usually she would be angry, but it was mostly her own fault, she should have known and stuck with her gut feeling that he wasn't just being nice to her- She sighed as a small stab of pain hit her chest and she reached up, placing her hand over her heart. She wasn't as angry, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt…

"Kagome, we have to find him." Inuyasha stopped walking, yet didn't turn around to face her. His tone became serious as he looked down at the ground.

"What's the point?" She stopped too, staring holes into his back, as she shifted the staff in her hand. "Tell me Inuyasha, do you have a lead on where Naraku is at?"

"…No." He sighed in defeat.

"Then how are we even supposed to know where to begin looking—"

"We have to go and find someone who saw him—Something!" The old dog seemed rather beaten, as his hand balled into a tight fist by his side, before he finally punched the tree that was unlucky enough to be the one standing right beside the enraged half-demon. "We need to search everywhere for rumors! Anything! He still has half of the shards-!"

"And neither Kikyo or I can sense anything from them. He hid himself after the last battle, and that was over a year ago, Inuyasha." Anger started to boil under her own skin at the thought of the evil demon still walking in the world and breathing. For an entire year he has been still breathing, escaping through their grasp some way. But she had to face facts, they both did— "No matter how bad you or I want him dead—We can't find him." When she spoke the words, she saw the demon before her visible flinch, and he turned his back to her once more. She knew it, the gang, and even Inuyasha knew it. We were all thinking it, were never truly spoken our thoughts out loud.

We all felt, if we spoke them out loud, in a sense, it would be true, and we would have lost the battle we have been fighting for a whole year…

"So what?" Inuyasha's voice was barely above a whisper. "So what if we haven't heard anything about Naraku in a year, he is still out there." Inuyasha sighed. "He is only hiding in fear because you almost killed him a year ago during the last battle." Hearing his rare show of praise, made her chest swell up with pride and a she smiled.

"Yes…" Kagome stood straight and nodded in agreement. "We will kill him next time." She instinctively reached out and her hand wrapped around the hilt of her blade as she spoke those words. Her sword began to give off a soft glow of power once more, at her touch- Her blade will deal the final blow, and this time he won't run away. "Naraku is just a coward." Her grip on the hilt tightened, and her jaw became clamped, her teeth grinding slightly. "If only…" Her words faded. The image of Naraku's fearful gaze entered her mind, as her blade swung down towards his body. If only her attack killed him, then he would finally be dead, and she could get her revenge…

The sword glowed brighter, as if it was reacting to her desires—She paused and looked down at her trusted sword, and raised an eyebrow. Strange, it's never done _**that **_before- What-…? She lifted her hand, and her eyes widened when her fingers were held before her, yet she could see right through them, spotting Inuyasha still standing in front of her. Her gaze followed her hand, down her arm, before finally at her entire body and her heart seemed to freeze in fear, as her form began to fade into nothing.

What in the—

"Don't worry Kagome." Inuyasha snorted, as if a thought came to his mind. "Whenever he gathers up the courage to crawl out of whatever hole he hid himself in, we will find him—then we will kill him." The dog demon turned around, and he paused, glancing around with a confused look on his face. "Kagome?" His nose gave off a small twitch, picking up her light scent. "Kagome?" He removed the pack that was on his shoulder, holding it in his hand instead as he held it loosely by his side. "Kagome!" He called out, cupping his hand against his mouth. His ears began to twitch frantically trying to pick up any sound of a reply.

Where did she go…?

* * *

Note: I hope you guys like the small change I added on just the first chapter. I added Inuyasha so you would know what happen to him and the others. I had more detail and things.

Oh, and for all of those who were worried and wondering about my mother: Thank you. She is doing fine now, shes recovering, and I'm helping her best I can, between my job and trying to write my book.

Hope you guys like this post, any post really. I don't go much time on my hands to write Fanfiction, but I will try to update some of my unfinished stories that are on my accout best I can, when I have time.


	2. The Journey Begins

Second Chapter re-written. Tell me what you think, and if you like the new added scenes and changes!

Unbeta-ed

_**Story**_

Kagome was surrounded by darkness. She was unable to move, unable to hear, sense, or even smell anything. Her eyes were closed and she didn't have the strength to open them. Her body was numb, and she couldn't feel what was around her. She felt paralyzed, dizzy, and her mind was a haze of thoughts as she tried to piece together what happened.

She couldn't remember, she couldn't think, and her head hurt. She felt like she was spat out after being in a blender for several hours, and she wanted to hurl. She just laid there, breathing, as she felt helpless, trapped in a box where she was cut off from the world, and it was just her and her thoughts.

Being unable to hear or even sense anything around her, made her worried at first. She tried to think of it as if she was sleeping, yet somehow still conscious, and she was just unable to move because she hasn't woken up completely. Because thinking that she was actually trapped in a spell, or other such thing by the enemy made her feel worse, so she allowed herself to believe the small lie to make herself feel slightly better for the moment.

As she laid there for an unknown amount of time, the fog of her thoughts begin to clear. The image of her standing by the God tree, and then Inuyasha appearing to talk with her—They were walking in the forest, and then a strange light went around her sword and…

Cold!

Her mind was screaming at her, as she tried to move her body, but it wouldn't respond to her command. She wanted to shiver, anything really, but her body stood as still as stone, as if she were dead—Maybe she _**was**_ dead? Would explain why she suddenly felt extremely cold…

Trickling entered her ears—Small drops and a soft melody in the background. She began to calm down when her own heartbeat and breathing were among the noises that suddenly invaded her eardrums, her hearing returning as well.

The sound of water, along with the chill, made her realize that she must be in the water—How, she wasn't sure. She tried to think about it, and as she laid there, she realized that the water was moving and rippling around her, splashing against her form as she sat helplessly in the water. In that moment she was glad the chilled liquid was very shallow, or else she would be dead—would be sad if the great protector of the jewel died, not from a demon attack, but from drowning in an inch deep puddle of water—

A nice scent wafted into her nose and she noticed that her sense of smell had returned to her—At least she knows that she doesn't stink. She almost snorted at her own comment, finding her smart remark to be her own way of dealing with the whole situation she somehow found herself in.

If only she could move...

She tried desperately to twitch her fingers, move her toe, anything really, but to no avail.

"…" She sighed in frustration- Wait a minute. "…?" She paused and then sighed again, checking to make sure she was hearing correctly. "Hmm." When did her voice return? "Hello?" She almost flinched at the horrible sound that protruded from her lips. Was that really her? It sounded as if she was half dead or at least dying of thirst- She cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the horse and dryness. "Hello?" Better than before, but not by much.

Her tongue and mouth moved, why not her other limbs? She tried to move again, and a grunt escaped her dried lips. Yet her efforts were useless as she continued to lay there like a corpse.

She waited for another unknown amount of time, before she began to get impatient. Maybe if she started small, instead of trying to move her body? She tried to foucs all her strength on her fingers. She used all her will power, but none of her muscles would move—Her eyebrows angled together and her eyelids clamped shut in concentration…-! She paused, before she finally realized what just happened. She squeezed her eyelids tighter once more, to test them, and her lips curved upwards, feeling victorious—even though her eyes were not really what she wanted to move, it will do for now.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, but the first thing that greeted her, was a blurry picture, unable to see anything. She blinked several times, to try and foucs her vision, and things began to become much clearer for her. She scanned the area as best she could, being unable to move her head, but what she did see made a small gasp escape her parted lips in awe.

She was looking up, so the first thing she saw was the ceiling. She was surprised to find that it was black, as if it was never-ending, or at least stretched into darkness, which was strange. How could there be no roof, yet no sunlight be able to come in? She glanced out of the corner of her eye, and the walls looked like they were alive, moving and flickering, dancing across the room in a stream of purple, black, and white.

"Beautiful." The word whispered out of her mouth as she continued to stare at the moving waterfall that was the wall.

A small amount of light was in the room, for on the other side of her were two torches, placed on the edges of the short stone encasement that was keeping the water from leaving the square pool she was resting inside of.

It wasn't long after that, she began to notice her body started to shiver uncontrollably. Finally! Her mind was screaming, realizing from that small motion, that she was now as able to move her body.

Slowly, she raised her arm out of the water, putting he hand in front of her face so she could get a good look at it. Unlike the last time she saw it, thankfully this time it was not transparent—It was wrinkled like a prune, from being submerged in the water for so long, but otherwise looked pretty solid. She sighed in relief, lowering her hand back down to its resting place where it was before.

"Okay." She spoke to herself, as she gathered the strength in her mind, and gave her body a small test by wiggling in the spot where she continued to lay. "I'm going to get up." Since there was no one really around, she was mostly speaking to herself, while inside of her mind, she began to count down from 10. "Any minute now…" As she counted, she envisioned herself getting up, and walking out of the pool.

6…

"I'm going to stand up…"

5…4...

"I'm getting up, right now."

3…

"I'm going to lift myself—"

2…

"and-!"

1!

A grunt escaped her lips as she lifted her body off the ground, feeling as if an anvil was placed on her chest. Every muscle was aching, and every bone in her body, if it could crack, it did, filling the entire room with pops, snaps, and every now and then a small groans as Kagome struggled to heft herself up and out of the pool. She found herself finally on her feet, after forcing herself through a unimaginable amount of pain just to stand.

Yet once she found her feet on the floor, holding herself up, she felt a sense of accomplishment and she stared down at herself with pride, puffing out her chest and placing her hands on her hips. Feeling proud, she hummed as she scanned the rest of the room from her standing position.

All of the walls in the rather small room were made of the same vibrant, shimmering colors. Ahead of her was pitch black, same as the ceiling. A dark, endless pathway, that seemed to stretch on forever.

Though she wished that it wasn't, the darkness seemed like the only real way out of this strange, lava lamp room…

She glanced down, and lying scattered among the floor was all of her weapons. She sighed, and stepped forward. She stumbled slightly, as her world began to spin, but she caught herself before she fell. She reached down and patted her legs roughly, questioning her strange seasickness, and tried again.

This time, she didn't feel like the floor was going to fly up at her, so she lifted her leg up higher and stepped up and over the stone, out of the pool. When she was out, she was standing on top of a stone step, with a golden symbol on it. Her sword was resting peacefully on top of it.

She raised her eyebrow, when she looked down at herself, and noticed the water that was moments ago, soaking her whole body and clothes, was now gone, and her clothes were dry as a bone. She questioned what was going on, touching her long green t-shirt, and then patting her dry brown shorts. She looked at her still pruned fingers, pure evidence that she was just a few seconds ago drenched from head to toe, knowing that she wasn't going completely insane, and wondered what in the world had happened, where she was, and what the hell was going on…

She shook her head, before bending down and picking up her sword that still rested at her feet-

All of a sudden the symbol underneath her started to glow, and the sound of laughter bellowed throughout the room. The grip on her sword instinctively tightened, and she turned to face her attacker, who would dare hit her while her back was turned-

Yet when she turned, her battle stance was slacked, for she was caught off guard when a woman popped out of the pool where she was just laying moments ago. She watched as she first started out no bigger than a few inches tall, but as she floated higher into the air, her body began to grow and grow, till she was twice her own size, and staring down at her with a smile on her face as she continued to float above the pool with a hum of amusement.

The woman had red hair, that was parted into three ponytails, and was wearing nothing but vines all over her body—Something she believed a certain perverted monk, if he were here, would faint if he saw…

She was smiling down at her, while she was somehow sitting on the air. Her legs were crossed, and her right arm supported her head lazily.

"**It is very nice to meet you, Kagome."** Started to speak to her in a kind and knowing tone.

"How-" Kagome began to talk, but the woman interrupted her.

**"How do I know your name?" **The woman, somehow knowing what she was going to say, spoke the question before she even spoke the words out loud.** "Well, I am the Great Fairy of Power. I know everything that is in this land."**

Great Fairy of Power? That is something she has never heard of before…

"**That's because you are not in your world anymore."** The Great Fairy spoke, as if she could read her thoughts. Her words caused her eyes to widen in surprise. **"You are in the land of Hyrule."**

Not in my word! What? How? Why!?

"!" The questions were all blasting in her mind at once, she couldn't even think of which one to ask first.

"**A great power brought you here."** She once again must have guessed what she was thinking, and beat her to it before she could ask. **"One even greater then I." **Feeling a headache coming on from this new information, Kagome reached up and rubbed the bridge of her nose. **"There is another great power here, an evil power." **The Fairy spoke again. **"You were meant to go somewhere else, but the darkness is too great, and is interfering, blocking the magic that brought you here, and you ended up in my domain instead."**

"…?" Kagome opened her mouth to ask her another question, but she was silenced when the Fairy spoke once more, interrupting her again before she could speak—Now that's just rude.

"**The only way to be able to go back to your world, is to rid the land of the darkness that has befallen it. With the great evil gone, the magic that brought you here will no longer have any problems in taking you home again." **

But she still hasn't answered the question of **who** or **what**, brought her here…

"But-" Kagome was stopped by the Great Fairy's voice interrupting her yet again, not allowing her to speak.

**"But how?" **Well, no, that's not exactly what she was going to ask—**" Well, you have to defeat the great king of evil, Ganondorf. He is the one who brought all of the evil onto the land. Destroy him, and you destroy all of the evil that covers this world."**

Kagome then waited to see if she was finished. She then raised her pointer finger, to make a statement. She opened her mouth to speak that statement-

"What-" She cursed loudly inside her head. Why was she unable to speak around this woman!?

"**Where is he?" **No! That's not what she was going to ask! What brought her here! **"Even if you knew where he was, you cannot reach him." **Why was she here! "**For his castle floats above a deep abyss, that is filled with lava."**

Who cares! None of this makes any sense!She didn't want to kill Ganondork. She didn't care about the evil here. She has her own evil to kill in her own world! She didn't want to solve the problems in this world just because she was told she had to!

Kagome's face was red from anger, and veins were popping up all over her forehead. She was so pissed, she couldn't even see straight!

**"I cannot help you directly in battle, but I do have something that will help you on your journey." **Isn't this woman listening to what she is saying!? No—wait—she hasn't let her speak a single word the whole time!

The great fairy raised her hands, and a blue beam of light came down from the ceiling, surrounding her. Suddenly a choker appeared in front of her.

Small sliver triangles, like the one she was standing on, was linked together making a chain, and a single onyx crescent moon dangled from its sliver band, with a crystal triangle in the foreground, highlighting the moon. It then disappeared and reappeared on her neck. She brought her hand up to touch the small gift.

"Umm… Thank you?" Why is she giving her stuff? This just made things even more confusing—

All of her weapons that were scattered in the floor, were surrounded by a green glow, as her choker began to glow with the same light, then they all vanished, including her sword that was in her hand. The gift stopped pulsing with power, before it became still again.

**"That choker will help you to carry more items, without having to really carry them. All you have to do is think of the item you have, and it will appear in your hand." **Why would she need this? She was fine carrying all of her stuff on her body—**"Please come back when battle makes you weary." **As she watched the woman's body start to shrink, and go back into the water, Kagome's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute-!" You can't just leave when you didn't even tell me anything! "Hey! Great Fairy-!"

The same blue beam appeared again, surrounding her, and she started to get lifted up into the ceiling. She closed her eyes tightly, blinded by the sudden bright light. She then felt her feet land softly, and she opened her eyes again. She blinked a few times, to adjust to the light, and she raised both her eyebrows when she noticed that she was in a field, placed in the middle of nowhere.

"Great— Just **Great**…" Well, that was pointless. She learned nothing from that woman, nothing that really mattered, anyway, oh, and she got a weird necklace. "Yay~" The word was dripping heavily with sarcasm, as she released an obviously fake happy squeal, and she raised her hands in the air and shook them in a dramatic way, pretending to be happy.

She was back to square one. She didn't know where she was, what she was going to do, or how to get home…

* * *

Kagome didn't know where she was, or where to really start, so she figured that just going in the direction she was already facing was as good of a choice as any. So Kagome allowed her feet to guide her and she began walking, putting one foot in front of the other.

In her slow stroll, she took in the scenery. There was a stone wall to her left, it wasn't high at first, but as she got further down the road it grew in height and soon towered over her. The wall was strangely placed, and it didn't seem to be protecting or blocking anything. Maybe it was just a bad design plan, she wasn't sure, but she soon found herself continuing down the path, only to start climbing up a small hill.

With little effort, now that her heavy weapon was no longer weighting her down, she felt light as a feather, and the hill was no real challenge. Yet she had to pause, taking in the new sight that awaited her once she reached the top.

The first thing that caught her attention was a looming stone gatehouse, just at the bottom of the hill. The drawbridge was broken in half, and in the moat that was supposed to be a defense mechanism for guarding the stone building from intruders. Yet now the door was a ramp, a gate way for invaders to come in without a problem.

Kagome raised an eyebrow and looked beyond the gatehouse, and in the distance beyond the wall, there was something sinister looming. The sky above was swirling with a dark power of some sort, while the top of a castle could be barely visible though the darkness.

She then turned her attention to her left, and there was a wooden wall, that was unbelievably tall, and positioned in a circle. It seemed less intimidating, but Kagome had a feeling that they would be just as inviting towards new visitors, as the castle—A sign above the open gateway caught her attention, and she read the large words painted on it.

"Lon Lon Ranch." Kagome tilted her head. "Well, looks like I got two choices here." She looked back at the castle with a sigh. "Fortress-like ranch, or big spooky castle."

Two very great choices to pick from, really…

Kagome decided that there was only one real choice in this type of situation, and she reached for her sword that was at resting on her hip—She paused when her sword wasn't there and she sighed in aggravation. That's right, the Fairy was kind enough to give her something that made all her weapons disappear into nothing. She reached up and touched her necklace.

"Now how does this thing work?" She huffed before reaching her hand out—"Sword." She commanded, as she opened her hand up, expecting it to just appear in her palm. She paused, and raised an eyebrow when nothing happened. "Sword!" She growled, waving her hand up and down. "Work, damnit!" She reached up, tugging on the choker. Now her sword, all her weapons, in fact, were gone and she had no way to make them come back. "Stupid Fairy." She mumbled to herself, before she sighed, feeling defeated.

She looked down sadly, as she touched the empty spot on her hip, use to the feeling of the metal pressed against her thigh. She believed she could get them back, so she wasn't worried about it at first, but now—She was defenseless, and she felt naked, now that she no longer had her weapons.

Her sword, being the most cherished possession she had. It was a part of her, as if it was her own arm. She looked down at her empty hand. She was so use to the weapon; she could practically see it resting in her grasp, even though it wasn't there. She clinched and stretched her fingers, remembering how the rough wrapping around the hilt felt against her palm as she grasped it lightly, when she wielded it.

Unknown to her, her choker was giving off a soft green glow.

The way the metal shone brightly in the sun, and how both edges were sharp and deadly—Kagome paused, blinking in surprise when a familiar outline appeared in her hand, shaped by a green glow. Her sword! Kagome's spirits were lifted when her sword magically appeared in her open palm, and she grasped the wrapped hilt with a bright smile. She hummed when she saw small specks of left over magic floating around the blade, before she gave it a small twirl to test it.

"So that's how it works." She placed her sword in front of her proudly, admiring her reflection in its polished blade. Once she was satisfied it wasn't going to leave her again, she got back to the moment at hand, the reason why she needed her sword. "Alright then." She smiled down at the blade, before placing the tip onto the ground. "You have never lead me astray yet…" With that in mind, she gave the sword a twirl, as if it were a spinning top. She took a step back, and watched it spin, leaving all her hope on which ever place her sword landed on. "Where should I go?" She questioned to the sword as she watched it slowly decrease in speed. The blade gave one more final spin, before finally falling over and landing on the ground with a solid thud, knocking dust around where it landed—"Of course, the big spooky castle…" Kagome sighed, looking down at the sword in disappointment. "You want me to go **there**?" She picked up the sword, holding it's hilt with a tight grip. "What in the world are you thinking?" She shrugged. It's not like she can change its mind, it's a sword. It's no use crying over spilt milk, might as well just head to the castle and get it over with...

She placed her sword on her hip, deciding it would be best not to place it back in the chocker, in case she might need it—

She glanced back at the gatehouse, and took a deep breath- This is just a wild guess, but she had a feeling she might need it…

She began walking down the hill, going towards the gatehouse. As she approached, it wasn't long that she began to notice something peculiar—The closer she got, the darker it became. The sky was turning black before her eyes with every step, and an evil wind began to blow around her body.

When she stood directly in front of the broken drawbridge, she could feel dots start to form on her skin, as a shiver went down her spine. She hadn't felt a powerful aura like this in a long time—Was her sword trying to kill her?

She glanced back over her shoulder, and towards Lon Lon Ranch. At the moment, the ranch definitely seems like the better choice of the two.

But her sword pointed her in this direction, and she's not the kind to back out—She sighed, and looked back down at the moat before her. She readied herself as she looked at the cold water, shaking her body to try and warm up before she plunged into it.

Wanting to get it over with as soon as possible, she walked forward, taking several steps until—

She cursed slightly under her breath when her feet landed in the cold water, splashing several drops on her unguarded legs. She could already feel the goosebumps dotting her skin once again, but she ignored it as best she could, as she walked on the broken gate. Thankfully it wasn't a ridiculously big moat, and she crossed the water within a few steps.

When she reached the other side, and her feet landed on the stone pathway, she outwardly shivered, before stomping her feet and trying to knock the water off of her legs and shoes. When she was done, she gave one last shake before walking forward once more.

She got a couple of steps within, and she stopped, looking around. Everything seemed rather gloomy, but nothing out of the ordinary yet. To her right was a door, it seemed like it was still in good shape. The first thing that came to her mind was: someone could be living inside.

The thought of speaking to someone, other than a rude fairy, made her feel slightly better. Maybe she can get some real help and information from the person inside?

With that thought in her mind, she walked towards the door. When she reached it, she wasted no time in raising her hand and giving the wooden door a soft knock with her knuckles. There was a small moment of silence, before she heard a muffled voice of someone speaking on the other side.

"Come in."

She obliged, opened the door, and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Yet she couldn't help but just stand there a moment, taking in what she was seeing.

It was dark, almost completely pitch black, and it had a creepy aura surrounding the entire small room. There was a bed on the other side of the room, where the person who bided her in, was sitting at. Above them was several wooden cages, and what looked like different colored fire, dancing inside of them.

It was in that moment she was debating with herself on whether to go back outside, or step forward and talk to the strange person—The fire then flickered, and slowly moved out of their cages, phasing through the bars as if they weren't there, laughing while doing so.

"!" Okay… Back outside it is then- Kagome quickly turned back around and placed her hand on the door knob. A loud smack made her jump in surprise, and she looked over her shoulder, towards where the noise came from. She saw that the strange flames were now back in their cages—

"Don't be frightened, they are just happy that we have a visitor. Please, come closer…"

Kagome stood there a moment, debating again whether she should stay or leave. Deciding that the information that she needed would be worth the trouble, she removed her hand from the door knob with a sigh.

Slowly she walked towards them, until she was a few feet away—

"Closer." The person beckoned. "I wish to look upon your face." Kagome took a few more steps closer. "I am getting old, and I have only one good eye left now." When she heard them say this, Kagome noticed that she could in fact see only one glowing eye from beneath the darkness of their hood.

"Umm." Kagome was now directly in front of the woman, within arm's reach, and she looked down at her. "Excuse me for coming into your home like this-…" She paused, a puzzled look on her face. "Ma'am?" She raised an eyebrow, hoping she guessed right. The woman nodded, and she gave a sigh of relief, glad she was right. "I was wondering if you would be so kind as to tell me where I am."

"You do not know where you are?" The old woman seemed rather surprised by this.

"I am a ...traveler." Kagome stretched the truth a bit, trying to come up with an excuse. "I seem to have lost my way as I was riding through the roads."

"Still, I cannot believe you would not have known you were in the courtyard of Hyrule Castle, be you a traveler or not. All know of these cursed lands, even beyond Hyrule border, so they know to stay away and never venture near here."

"Hyrule Castle!" Kagome tried to pretend like she knew what that meant. "Of course, I thought it seemed familiar~!" Her acting skills were horrible, and Kagome had a feeling she wasn't buying her act. "How did I end up here!?" She moved her arms in a wide motion, being overly dramatic. "Damnit~!" She clinched her fist, and raised it into the air, shaking it. "That means I have to go back."

"Yes, it would be wise to turn back while you can." The woman tapped her staff on the floor, and nodded. "It may be calm enough here, by the entrance, but you go even a few more steps further, and you will surely find death." A creepy cackle echoed in the room, as if the woman was pleased with something—"Then again, it will just be one more Poe added to my collection." The multi-colored flames flickered at her words, dancing with amusement.

"Is that what those things above you are called?" Kagome questioned her, curious.

"You do not know of Poes?" She sounded surprised once more, before she leaned in, inspecting her closely, suspicious. "Everyone knows of Poes, especially travelers…"

"I come from a land far away…" She paused trying to come up with a name real quick—"Ramen land."

"Ramen land?" The woman repeated. "I never heard of such a place."

"Like I said, it is very far away." She shifted in her spot, as she tried to make up a wild tale so the woman would believe her. "It has a barrier around it, protecting the people inside of it from harm…"

"That sounds like a safe and peaceful place—why would you leave?"

"I umm…" She tried to rack her brain to come up with something. "I am on a quest." She began, hoping that the woman would buy into her lies. "Given to me by—The king!" Kagome nodded, proud of herself. "King Inuarsehole..."

"Inuarse…hole?"

"The third." Kagome was doing her best not to laugh, trying to seem as serious as possible while she stood before the woman.

"A quest…" The woman was mumbling to herself as she started at Kagome with suspicion. "Hmm…" The woman shifted in her seat. "I suppose that makes since, if it is for a quest." Kagome sighed in relief, that the woman didn't call her on her lie. "Poes are spirits." The woman answered her.

"Spirits of the dead?" Kagome looked up and saw that the ghosts were laughing, slowly floating out of their cages once more.

"Something like that." The woman hummed. "Some, who die, are left to wander the world as a ghost." The lady began to explain. "You can kill these ghosts, and it's tormented spirit will be left behind. That spirit is called a—" She harshly banged her staff against the top of her bed, making Kagome jump in surprise. The Poes laughed in amusement, before scurrying back inside their cages. "A Poe."

"Hmm." Kagome hummed as she placed her hand under her chin in thought. "Maybe next time I see Kikyo, I should call her a Poe…" If she ever gets back home, that is—

She still had no idea how to get back— Plan A: 'Kill Ganondork' Does not seem like a reliable plan to get home, especially when it was a crazed fairy telling you to do so.

How is she supposed to find a way home, if she doesn't know how she even got here?

"You know of a Poe?" The woman's voice broke her thoughts, and she looked down at her.

"You can say that..." Kagome smirked in amusement.

"Next time you see a Poe, catch it in a bottle and bring it to me."

"A bottle?" You can catch a spirit in a bottle?

"Yes, once defeated, you can easily catch them in an empty glass container." The woman told her. "I will pay you a good price for any Poe you bring me."

"You pay for Poes?" She raised an eyebrow at the idea of someone wishing to acquire a spirit so badly, they were willing to pay for it.

"In this time of dread, a business of this kind has a good killing off of Poes, and this type is one of the only shops the Great Ganondorf will allow."

Wait a minute—This was a store? You can make a profit off of buying and selling tortured spirits of the dead?

"That's terrible..." What kind of world is she in?

"No, it's life." She replied.

"If I do catch a Poe, believe me, you'll be the first person I will think of." Kagome told the woman, she would help her out, if she can.

"That's very thoughtful of you. Thank you." She bowed softly.

"No problem. I'm happy to help you with your..." She paused, not really sure what you would call it, without being rude. "Collection." Kagome inwardly shrugged. A movement caught her attention, and she glanced up. She saw that once again the flames were slowly creeping away from their cages. "Thank you for the information—" She paused for a second time, thinking. "I was wondering, do you know where Ganondork is?"

"Ganondorf?" The woman went stiff for a moment, her one eye going wide in surprise. "He will be at his castle, but I told you before, the courtyard is dangerous, you will surely die if you venture any further towards the castle."

"So Ganondork's Castle is beyond the courtyard?" Kagome figured out, and she pointed to her left.

"Yes…" The flames moved a few more inches away from their cages, but she paid them no mind, her attention focused on Kagome. "But I thought you were going to turn back?"

"I will…" Kagome smirked, and turned around, walking back towards the door to leave. "After I defeat him." Plan A is a stupid plan, but it is the only plan she has right now— "Goodbye." She waved to the woman over her shoulder, before she left her, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

"…Defeat him?" The woman shook her head, feeling pity for her. "Her pure spirit will be a very nice addition to my collection…" The old lady chuckled in amusement, before smacking her stick above her, causing the flames to scurry back into their cages, laughing as well.

When Kagome was outside, an idea came to her mind, as she replayed the conversation that she just had moments ago. She placed her hand to her lips, as she tried to still her giggles that suddenly escaped.

"Kikyo, in a bottle-! Pssstttt!" She tried not to laugh, but just picturing the priestess stuck inside of a glass bottle made her want to laugh so hard she would almost burst. She would have to get Totosai to make her one big enough for her to fit in. "HA-!" She reached up and brushed away the tears that appeared in the corners of her eyes. "That was a good one."

She couldn't remember the last time she laughed so much…

Once she was done with her fits of laughter, she stood straight and cleared her throat. She adjusted her sword that was on her hip, with a small smile on her face, before she continued onward, deeper into the courtyard.

After taking a few more steps, Kagome had to stop, and a small gasp was heard escaping though her parted lips, as she inhaled suddenly in surprise. "I had no idea it was this bad." Kagome spoke to herself, as she looked upon the town square.

It was in complete shambles, covered in darkness, and ruin. There was strange red statues littered all over the area, and she shivered. She took a few more steps forward, and she looked down at the fountain that was before her, in sadness. It was dry as a bone, and vines were growing around it. She reached out and touched the rim, the stone cracking under her fingertips and she pulled back, watching as it crumbled, and a large piece fell and hit the floor.

She glanced around again, seeing that the rest of the buildings were in no better shape. The only one that looked in decent enough condition, was a church-like building that was placed not too far away from where she was standing. She shook her head, then walked around the dried fountain-

Kagome paused when she came upon a red statue, and raised an eyebrow. She noticed that they were all in the same, curled up in the fetal position, hiding their heads.

"Strange…" Kagome bent down closer, to get a better look. "Hmm." She shrugged, before deciding it was nothing of importance and continued on, to Ganondork's Castle.

Slowly it lifted it head up, turning towards Kagome and watching her as she walked away.

* * *

When Kagome entered the next area, she raised her hand, to try and block the strong wind that was blowing, whipping her raven locks around violently. She growled in annoyance when several of the strands flicked and snapped, hitting her in the face.

She pressed onward down the short path, pausing only for a second when she saw a large black stone. She raised her eyebrow towards the heavy granite looking material, before shaking her head and moving forward. She gasped when her foot slipped and she stopped just in time before falling over the cliff.

"What the-?" She looked down, seeing that below her was a deep abyss, filled with lava. She raised her head, and saw that before her, floating in the air above the dangerous volcano, was a dark and sinister castle. "How is that possible?" She questioned to herself.

And more importantly, how was she going to get there?

She sighed, looking around to see if she can find a bridge of some kind, or anything useful that will help her get across to the castle. Yet all Kagome could find was the two pillars that stood on either side of where she was standing. Kagome was picturing them and how they might have been long ago, a beautiful archway, but now was broken and in ruin, like the rest of the castle-

A long and hairy leg stretched out from the other side of the pillar, and Kagome's eyes widened as big as saucers. She watched, frozen stiff, as a spider crawled out from behind the stone. When she saw it, her heart stopped, and a chill went down her spine. It stopped moving when it got directly in front of her.

It's body was a large skull, while its spider legs were hairy and long—She shivered a second time—It's bright red eyes, from deep within the skull, turned and looked at her.

"Ugh!" She shivered a third time, and withdrew her sword. "Stupid spider!" She closed her eyes tightly in disgust, unable to look upon the ugly creature, and swung her sword. She heard a loud clang as it hit the stone, missing completely. She swung again— Then a third time, grunting in frustration as she kept her eyes closed, hacking and slashing at the hard stone.

A painful screech was heard, and she almost cried out in joy. She hit it! She opened her eyes, and looked down. She cringed, seeing the creature twitching on the ground in pain, one of its legs cut off. It was hurt, but still alive.

"I'll fix that-!" She raised her sword above her head, with a deadly look in her eyes. "Die!" She then began repeatedly swinging her sword downward, over—"You" And over—"Stupid" And over "Stupid" And—"Spider!" When she was finally done hacking up the creature up into little pieces, she stood there, the tip of the heavy sword, resting on the ground, as she held it's hilt tightly. She was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling in a shaky breath. "Die…" She sighed, feeling satisfied as she looked upon the green goop liquid that was left of the spider, a remaining leg, sticking up from the goo, twitched. "Ugh." She raised her sword, seeing the green blood splattered all along it's blade, and she quickly flicked it off with a disgusted shiver.

Once her blade was cleaned of the muck, she placed it on her hip once more. She shivered for the millionth time, and began walking away from the corpse, wanting to get as far away from it as possible, and to think on a plan. She didn't notice that moments later, the body burst into a green flame, and disintegrated…

She gave another sound of disgust, as she reached up and rubbed her arms, trying to shake off the cold feeling from her body.

She hated spiders…

* * *

_Link._

Someone was calling him.

_Link._

They were telling him to wake up—But he didn't want to.

_Link._

Even though he didn't want to—

_Link._

He found himself sighing in defeat- He knew that he had to…

Link woke up, feeling dizzy and disoriented. His vision was slightly blurry, as he glanced around the room, finding himself in an unfamiliar place.

The room seemed rather unreal, as he was standing on the Triforce symbol, which was placed on simmering water. Light was being cast down from above, lighting the vast emptiness that was around him. Six platforms were placed around where he was standing, each with a different color, one of which had a guy standing on it—Wait—What? He paused, and did a double take, staring at the man.

"Link, I am Rauru, the sage of light, one of the six ancient sages." The man began to speak to him. "This is the Chamber of Sages, inside the Temple of Time." He told him. "I have awaken you, because it is time for the Hero of time to shine, and destroy the great evil that has come upon this land… That Hero is you."

"Me?" He couldn't help but look around, wondering if he was talking to someone else. Link pointed to himself, just to make sure he wasn't somehow mistaken.

Him, be a hero?

Rauru smiled softly at him, nodding. "Link, Hero of Time. Seven years have passed since you hefted the Master Sword." Link cocked an eyebrow at his words, and Rauru chuckled in amusement. "If you do not believe me, look at how you've grown up."

Link looked down, and his eyes grew double in size, seeing that what the man said was true. He tested his right arm, moving it around slowly, and putting his hand into a tight fist, watching the muscles underneath move and stretch. He reached out with his left hand, patting his newly toned bicep with pride.

At that point, like usual, Navi pointed out the complete obvious.

_"Link! You've grown up!"_ Of course…

"Link, Ganondorf used you to get to the Triforce." Rauru spoke once more. "You were too young back then to be the Hero of Time, but when Ganondorf attacked, the Master Sword saved you by putting you in the Chamber of Sages." He told what happened. "Link, there are five more Sages left in Hyrule. I am one of them, but the rest are asleep, and you must awaken the Sage within them." He revealed. "Once you do, we will help you all we can to defeat Ganondorf. I am too weak by myself, so you must find the rest of the Sages." Link nodded, accepting the man's quest without question. "Here, take my Medallion, it has my strength within it to help you on your journey." He lifted his hands in the air.

Link looked up just in time to see a medallion float down towards him, and he quickly caught it.

You have the Medallion of Light, The Sage of Light Fuses his power to you. You now feel stronger than before. Congratulations. . . (Nun nun nun laaa.)

"Thank you." Link stood straight, becoming serious. "I won't let you down." Rauru smiled at him again, nodding.

Link felt himself being lifted off of the platform, as he became weightless and floating upwards. He was surrounded by a bright light, and Link closed his eyes, shielding them from the light as he rose higher and higher into the air.

* * *

When she arrived back at the courtyard, Kagome stopped in her tracks and raised an eyebrow, noticing something was different.

"Were all the statues like that before?" She questioned as she stared at the red statues. Before they were scattered about the square, equally placed in the area, yet now—She hummed, placing her hand under her chin in thought.

Now they were all gathered around where she was standing, grouped. They were all in the same position as she remembered them, curled up, with their arms around their legs and their face hidden, but it looked as if someone moved them, placing them all around the entrance to the castle, facing the same direction—at her.

"It's as if they all got up and was walking after me…" She mumbled to herself. "Nah." She shook her head, denying the fact that statues could walk on their own. She quickly waved the thought out of her mind. "Wasn't there a church nearby?" She questioned out loud. "Ah~" She made a small sound of victory when she spotted it. "Maybe someone is there?" She then began to walk towards the building, squeezing between the statues as she passed them carefully.

"…" The ones she passed, slowly raised their heads, and looked towards her, groaning softly.

As she got further away from the entrance, the statues were more fanned out. She sighed when she finally got thorough them, and passed the last one, arriving at the stairs that lead towards the area to the church.

"I hope someone is there who can help…" Kagome paused for a moment, when something in the back of her mind was whispering to her. Something was wrong.

Yet everything seemed okay…

She looked around, not finding anything out of place. She glanced over her shoulder—A face was by her head, it's decaying breath leaking out of its gapping mouth and brushing across her face. Her eyes widened in fear, as she looked into the dark endless sockets, where its eyes should be, and the air got ripped away from her lungs, as she stopped breathing.

She couldn't move, as he reached out and wrapped itself around her from behind, trapping her arms, and bit her on the shoulder, through her shirt. She screamed out, the pain snapped her out of her trance. She lifted her arms using pure brute strength, trying to pry the zombie's grip from around her. It's hold loosened, and she threw the offending creature over her shoulder, and it hit the short stone wall with a thud, before it crumbled onto the floor in a mess of limbs, turned every which way.

She raised an eyebrow when she watched it twitch, before it began to move and try to stand back up—She let loose another scream when another stab of pain hit her in the arm, and she quickly elbowed the attacking creature in the side, hard. The hit was strong enough to cause the creature to groan out in pain, freeing her bicep from its locked jowls.

She pulled out her sword, and sliced the first creature unlucky enough to be within striking distance, humming in satisfaction when her sword cut threw it like butter, hacking the zombie in half. She looked down at her arm, and her eyebrows angled together as she watched her red blood oozing from the wound on her bicep, trailing down her arm, all the way to her hand and around her fingers.

She stood her ground, as she watched the rest of the hoard closed in on her, the smell of fresh blood putting them into a frenzy. Whenever they got within distance, she would attack, yet her range was just as long as theirs. She had to dodge their blows, while she tried to counter with an attack of her own.

Her hand around her sword tightened, and a throbbing pain went down her arm and she hissed, flinching—

She screamed out when one of the creatures tackled her, throwing her to the ground, her sword slipping out of her grasp, slick from her blood covered hand. She raised her hand to the creature's chest, the other on its forehead, pushing it back as she tried to stop it from ripping her face off with its teeth—

She let loose another scream as she felt something bite her in the rib, and she growled out in anger. Her hands glowed pink, as she placed her powers into it, and instantly the zombie's face turned to dust, before the rest of its body began to get blown away by the wind, becoming ash.

She touched the back of the creature's head, that was still locked onto her side, and she huffed as it too became dust in the wind, no match against her pure powers. She then reached out and grabbed the ankles of the closest zombie, and it also turned to ash, after letting loose a screech of pain, its body dissolved into nothing.

She saw the simmer of her blade, laying on the ground, just a few feet away. She began crawling towards it, with a look of determination flaring in her green orbs. She reached her hand out, her fingers touching the hilt- Something grabbed her by the leg, and she slipped, landing hard on her stomach and knocking the wind out of her as it began dragging her across the cold hard stone floor. She growled in frustration and turned the upper half of her body, glaring at the offending creature with malice. She reached out, placing her pink glowing palm on the attacker's hand that had a grip on her leg, and she watched as it too, turned to ash from her touch.

She got to her feet, just enough to make a jump for her blade. She rolled across the ground, and grabbed her blade in mid-tumble. When she stopped moving, she instinctively swung her now glowing blade, while still crouching, hitting the zombie that lunged after her—She coughed when dust flew violently in her face.

Ugh, zombie ashes— disgusting…

She tried to wave the dust cloud away with her hand, as she continued to cough. When it finally cleared, she found herself staring into deep, dark, eye sockets, and the creature let loose a groan. She inhaled suddenly in surprise, taken off guard, and the air was sucked out of her lungs. She couldn't look away, as she stared into the deep emptiness, feeling paralyzed—

The creature let loose a painful howl, before its head fell off of its shoulders, and landed on the ground with a sickening thud, rolling several feet before finally coming to a stop. Kagome watched, puzzled, as it's headless body, along with its severed head, was engulfed by a green flame, and turned to ash.

A shadow came upon her crouched form, and the grip on her sword tightened. She swung her blade at the attacker—

"Whoa!" He called out and he took a step back, her blade nearly missed slicing open his stomach. "I'm friendly, I promise." He raised his unarmed hand in peace, his left holding a sword of his own.

"Sorry…" Kagome loosened her grip on her sword, her shoulders slumping tiredly. She glanced around, seeing that the zombie creatures were all gone now, and she sighed. Her body deflated. "Reflex."

"It's alright, you didn't mean to." He reached his hand out to her, to help her up. She shook her head, denying his nice gesture, and decided to plop her butt on the cold stone floor, not wanting to stand at the moment.

"I thought you were one of those ghouls." She said while trying to catch her breath.

"You mean one of the Re-Dead?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh? That's what those things are called?" She really didn't care, because she had more important things going on right now—Hmm, let's see…

She gets transported to another world… **again**. A weird half naked fairy gave her a necklace and told her to go kill someone—oh, and evil mutant zombies tried to eat her.

Today is turning out to be the best day of her fucking life…

"You're bleeding." His deep voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked up. The long eared man placed his sword into its sheath, which was strapped onto his back. The grip on Kagome's sword, that she was still holding, tightened as he got closer. She watched cautiously as he bent down in front of her.

"It's nothing." She pulled her right arm away from him as he reached out to grab it. The movement caused the metal of her sword to scrap across the stone floor, producing a screeching sound. Though it was pretty annoying to her, the man before her visibly flinched, his long, and obviously acute ears, making him more sensitive to the sound.

"You are bleeding a lot." He tried to convince her, so he could take a look at it. Yet Kagome just glared at him with distrust. "Re-dead wounds are nasty, and if you don't get it treated, it will make you weak and sick."

Kagome thought about it for a moment. The man was kind enough to kill that creature before it attacked her, and now he is worried about her wellbeing enough to want to tend to her wounds—Yet here she is, being rude to the man who is just trying to help…

Why not give him a chance? It's not like it will kill her- Kagome sighed, and let go of her sword, letting it lay by her side. He smiled, taking that as her way of giving in, and he reached out.

Kagome closed her eyes, waiting for pain to hit her, yet she was surprised when his grip was soft, and he was being as gentle as possible. His hand was gripping her elbow, his glove covered hand now stained with her blood, as he lifted her arm higher and examined the wound. His other hand reached out and pulled up her sleeve, which was covering half of the wound—He gave a small hiss, his eyebrows angling together.

Kagome paid no mind to his reaction, but the throbbing that was coming from all three of her wounds was something she could not ignore as easily. She found her body becoming heavy as she sat there, the throbbing from the wound on her arm being the worst, but the one by her neck, and on her ribs was just as distracting—

"I don't know if it's still good or not, but it's better than nothing." While still holding her arm in his right hand, his reached behind him, pulling out a glass bottle. Inside of it was filled with a red liquid and Kagome raised an eyebrow. "It's seven years old, but it might still be good… Though I wouldn't risk you drinking it and getting sick." He placed it up to his lips, and pulled the cork out with his teeth. Kagome watched hesitantly as red mist floated out of the opening. "I'll just pore it on the wound for now, it should be enough."

He dumped the goop on her wound, the red liquid mixing with the blood that was oozing out, and almost matching it in color. The elf wiped away the red mess that was dripping from her bicep, to get a good look, Kagome flinched in pain from the harsh action.

"Sorry." He apologized, and he gave a small frown as he looked at the wound. He glanced back at the now half empty bottle. "Maybe it's expired?" He hummed. "But it looks like it stopped the bleeding..." He let go of her arm, so he could pull out some bandages for her, and began wrapping up her bicep. "You'll have to go to Kakariko Village and buy a fresher batch." When he was done bandaging her, he leaned back and examined his handy work, nodding in acceptance.

Kagome lifted her arm, looking at the fresh white bandage that was sticking out beneath her sleeve.

"Umm… Thank you." She smiled at him in gratitude, happy that the throbbing has lessened, even if it was just a little bit.

"Is there any other wound on you?" He asked.

"Well…" She reached up with her hand and touched her shoulder—without warning the man grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled it down, so that it revealed her entire shoulder for him to see. Kagome's face turned completely red, shocked by his openly forward behavior—

"Not as bad as the other one, your shirt must have helped." He was mumbling to himself, as he poured some more of the liquid directly onto her wound on her shoulder. Kagome shivered, trying to ignore the feeling of the warm liquid going down her shirt, and trailing across her skin and chest.

Kagome opened her mouth, planning on giving the elf a piece of her mind, yet she glance down, and watched in amazement as the bite wound on her shoulder began to heal right before her eyes, the wound becoming smaller and smaller, until it was completely healed.

"It's healed?" She reached up and touched the spot where her wound was at. The man smiled, happy for her.

"Is there another spot?" The man asked, as he raised his bottle and looked at it. He swished the tiny amount of liquid that was left and looked back at her. "There's enough for one more."

"Ummm…" Kagome glanced down to her side, at her rib, right below her—"No!" Her face turned red, and the man raised an eyebrow at her sudden shout. "I mean… no." She shook her head, and tried to ignore the heated feeling that was still in her cheeks.

She would rather die, then let this strange and perverted elf lift up her shirt and—Her blush became darker and she mentally shook her head, trying to remove the idea from her mind.

"But T-thank you." She reached out and grabbed her sword. "You were kind enough to not only save me from those creatures, but heal my wounds as well."

"It's no problem, really." He smiled, trying to play it off as no big deal, but a dash of pink was across his nose, happy at hearing her gratitude. He placed his bottle of red medicine behind him once more, and he stood up. When he was on his feet, he reached his left hand out to her. Kagome looked at it for a moment, before placing her hand in his, and he helped her to her feet as well. "Name's Link." He began shaking Kagome's hand up and down, taking advantage of their still joined hands. Kagome just blinked in surprise at his very American-like greeting.

When he was finally finished, she pulled her hand away from him. She placed her sword back to its rightful place on her hip, before she put her hand onto her chest and bowed towards him in respect. "My name is Kagome." Her head was down, so she missed the strange look Link was giving her, from her odd greeting.

"Well, Kagome." He hummed when she stood back up from her bow. "What are you doing here, anyway?" He paused, before reaching up and scratching behind his head nervously, realizing that he must have sounded rude—"If you don't mind me asking, that is. It's dangerous out here."

"I was told to come here and kill someone." Kagome confessed.

"Kill someone?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Who told you to do this?"

"A crazy, half naked woman." His eyebrow joined the other, as they both were raised up, confused by her words.

"Who are you supposed to kill?" He crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a questioning look, not believing her.

"Ganondork." She shrugged, placing her hand on her hip and looking over towards the castle, which was easily visible from where they were standing in the courtyard.

"You mean Ganondorf?" Surprise was clearly written on his face as he now began examining her, curious.

"Isn't that what I said?" She rolled her eyes, not caring about small details.

"You mean you are going to try and kill Ganondorf?" He seemed rather amused by this, as he smirked down at her.

"Maybe you should get your ears checked, elf." She poked him in the chest, huffing.

"Elf?" He blinked down at her, taken back.

"Now, if you don't have anything else interesting to say…" She walked passed him, leaving, and going back towards the broken drawbridge—He reached out and placed his large hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"You are going the wrong way." He hummed.

"No I'm not—"

"Ganondorf's Castle is this way." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

"I've already been there." She pulled her shoulder away from his grasp, and turned around to face him.

"You have?" This seemed to surprise him and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"The castle is just magically floating in the air." She started to move her hands around, as she was talking. "So unless I can figure out how to grow wings-" She placed her hands together and began flapping them in the air. "And fly across the huge boiling lake of lava below it—I'm not going to be getting across it anytime soon." She sighed, and crossed her arms, looking away from him.

"I see…" He looked at her, his blue orbs glowing brightly in amusement. He then hummed, placing his hand under his chin in thought. "If you could reach him, do you think you could do it?"

"Do what?" She looked back over to him, raising an eyebrow.

"Kill him." He said it, as if the answer was obvious.

"Of course." She huffed, resting her hand onto the hilt of her sword.

"Hmmm." He hummed, nodding and approving of her answer. "And why is it that you have to kill him again?" He asked.

"I…" She looked down, as images appeared in her mind of all her friends and family. Her heart ached, suddenly missing them all greatly—Then the picture of Naraku appeared in her mind, and her fingers wrapped tightly around her hilt, a low growl rumbling in her chest. The throbbing in her arm grew, but she ignored it. "It's none of your business…" She turned her head away from him, suddenly feeling very grumpy.

"So why were you headed towards Hyrule field?" He asked, curious.

"To find a way to grow wings." She snorted, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance. He chuckled, finding her answer to be amusing. "Maybe someone can tell me how, in that village you mentioned earlier."

"Kakariko?"

"Yes."

"You know the way?" She just huffed, and looked away from him. "I'll take it that's a 'no.' " He chuckled again. "You'll just get lost, if you don't know where you are going."

"Are you offering to guide me there then?" She looked back over at him, trying to catch him off guard, yet instead, she found him smiling at her.

"Actually, yeah, I am." He smirked, placing his hands on his hips as he looked down at her.

"W-what?" She blinked in surprise at his answer, a dash of pink appearing on her cheeks.

"Maybe you should get your ears checked." He teased, still smiling down at her, with a twinkle in his bright blue orbs.

"Oh Ha-ha." She gave a mock laugh. "That was just so~ funny—Hey." She paused when she noticed that he was walking away from her. "Where are you going!" She shouted, before she ran after him, to catch up.

"To Kakariko Village." He stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Kakar—" She paused, looking up at him with uncertainty and distrust. "Why?"

"Should I have a reason?" He glanced down at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Well..." She glared at him. "Yes."

"Then I guess it's because I want to help you."

"Help me?" She stopped walking for a moment, her eyebrows angling together in thought. "Why would you help me?"

"I can't just help you because I want to be nice?" He asked over his shoulder, as he continued to walk ahead.

"_What? I can't be nice to you?"_ A familiar grouchy voice of a certain dog eared companion echoed in her mind, as she had the odd feeling of deja'vu.

"No." She stated as if it were fact, and Link stopped walking, caught off guard by her blunt answer. "No one ever does something, just because they are nice. It might look that way on the surface, but beneath, there is always something in it for them." Her hands were balled into fists by her side, as she glared holes into Link's back.

"…" He stood there for a moment, before he looked at her over his shoulder and smiled. "Then I guess I'm the first."

"The first nice guy?" She seemed skeptical, as she placed her hands on her hips and looked at him.

"Then don't believe me." He shrugged, before he continued walking. "I just decided, for no reason what so ever, which has nothing to do with you, that I am going to go to Kakariko Village." He hummed. "So if someone wants to follow me, so they can figure out the way there…" He hinted heavily. "Then I guess this would be their chance."

"…?" Kagome raised an eyebrow at his retreating back, thinking it over.

A real nice guy—elf—whatever… _Impossible_.

Kagome ran after him, quickly catching up and walking beside him.

"Oh, hello." He smiled down at her, before extending his hand to her in greeting. "Name's Link, nice to meet you." He hummed, his hand still stretched out for her to take. "I'm on my way to Kakariko Village."

"…" She looked down at his still stretched out hand. "Kagome." She told him. "I'm also going to Kakariko Village…"

"What a conscience." He smiled down at her, amused. "Would you like to join me?"

A small voice started to whisper in her mind, wanting to believe it was true, that in fact, he was just being nice.

"I would like that…" She reached out and finally took his hand, giving it a nice firm shake, sealing the deal.

Yet she was just being naïve, and she should have known better…

* * *

_**Note**_: After I reread this chapter in my old story, I noticed I skipped a lot of things, and I had Kagome going into the shop for no reason, and then Kagome just agrees to go with Link, for no real reason, nothing logical anyway, other than to make a cool story. She just agrees with it and Link gets dragged along with her, whether he wants her along or not.

This way, I tried to make it seem more real, both in the battle, Kagome's fighting abilities, and the way they think and how they act. For those who love my old story, and think this is too big of a change… D: I'm sorry.

I actually didn't think I would change this much, but it just came out this way as I was writing. I don't think I'm going to be changing too much of the rest of the story, but I'm sure you will see a lot of old jokes and humor, along with some new ones as well.

Tell me what you think guys!


	3. Kakariko Village and The Hookshot

Another chapter! Yay! Took long enough D:

Tell me what you think, and if you like the new added scenes and changes!

Unbeta-ed

_**Story**_

Link was walking through the courtyard, and towards Hyrule field. It was a short stroll, and they remained silent the whole way, his new companion following him quietly. He has only had one other person with him, and that was Navi, so having someone along who didn't speak much was different than what he was used to.

He glanced over his shoulders, just enough to catch a peek of the raven haired woman following in step behind him. She seemed to be in deep thought, staring at the ground with a concentrated look on her face, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword for reassurance.

He must admit, after he left the Temple of Time, the last thing he guessed would happen next is that he would run into a woman, who was fighting off a horde of Re-dead, and he would then invite the woman to follow him to Kakariko village.

His ears gave a small twitch, hearing the sound of water, giving him a warning, before his feet finally hit cold liquid, splashing some drops onto his calves. He shivered slightly, yet easily ignored the chill.

His white leggings protected him well enough from the splashes, but his thick boots is what really saved him from the bitter cold of the water. He easily waded through it, standing on the other side after a few steps.

He turned around, seeing Kagome now treading through the moat, and watched as she visibly shivered from the cold. Unlike him, she was not as well protected from the water.

"Let me help you out." He reached his hand out to her, a concerned look on his face when he saw the bumps dotting along her skin.

"I'm fine." She gently blocked his hand, pushing it away from her, and she continued up the broken drawbridge on her own.

"I was just trying to help." He turned to face her when she reached dry land. He watched as she stomped her feet, shaking her legs to try and rid herself from all the loose liquid that was still attached to her skin, and now soaked shoes.

"I don't need anyone's help." She seemed rather stubborn. "I'm not weak."

"I didn't say you were." He shrugged, wondering why she was so offended by his kind gestures, pushing him away every time he tried to help her. "I saw how you fought those Re-dead, and you did pretty good—" Hearing her snort, he raised an eyebrow at her.

"It was a disaster." She looked down, placing her hand on her sword as she bit her lower lip in aggravation. "You had to save me."

"But you took care of most of them before I got to you."

"But you still had to save me." She sighed, looking downhearted for some strange reason. "I'm tired of being saved all the time…" She mumbled to herself, but he heard it clearly with his excellent hearing.

"Would you've been more pleased if I let the Re-dead kill you, and not come to your aid?" He crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at her curiously.

She shifted in her spot, before her shoulders slumped. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way." She then looked back up, and he was surprised to see her smiling softly at him. "Thank you for saving me."

He lowered his arms slowly, taken back by her sudden change from her hostile mood. He wasn't sure what to say, and he scratched the back of his head. "Y-you're welcome." He could feel a small amount of heat gathering in his cheeks, and he looked away from her. "Let's, umm, keep moving."

He turned and started walking in the direction of the town. A few moments later, his ears gave a twitch as he picked of her soft footsteps following behind him once more.

He was again surrounded by silence, but he didn't mind.

* * *

Kagome followed behind Link, neither one of them saying anything. Link seemed like the strong and silent type, but the reason she has not spoken a word either was that she had a lot on her mind.

Coming into another new world. Having to fight for her life with zombies. Was told she had to kill someone, so she could go home.

The small and slow stroll she was taking with her newly acquainted long eared elf, made her reflect on these new things that happened in her life. She began feeling depressed as the effects of what was going on hit her hard.

Does she really have to kill this Ganondick guy, just so she could go home?

As she continued to think, the painful throb on her arm made her pause, and she looked down at her arm with a sigh. It was rather annoying, and hurt just a little, but she could live through it until it healed up.

She felt something wet slide down her side, and she lifted her right hand, placing it under her shirt. Reaching up, she touched her rib, just under her left breast, she closed her left eye, trying to hold back a hiss, and pulled her hand out of her shirt.

She looked down at her palm, a saddened look in her eyes when she saw her hand was covered in a familiar bright red liquid of her blood—

"We are almost there." She jumped at the sound of his voice, and quickly hid her hand behind her back just as he turned his head back to look at her.

"That was quick." She tried to cover up her worry with a fake smile, pretending like everything was alright.

"It's not that far away from the castle." He pointed towards the stairs they were walking up to. "The village is just up those steps."

"Good." She wiped her hand on her rump, trying to clean her moist hand from the red evidence. She then glanced down and sighed when it was gone. She looked up, and was watching Link's retreating back becoming smaller as he began ascending the stairs and entering the Village. "Good…"

Yet the annoying, and sometimes painful throbs from both her side and arm was a constant reminder that just because she was ignoring it, doesn't mean it wasn't there.

* * *

When Kagome finally got to the top of the stairs, she spotted Link, standing below a wooden archway, which read: Kakariko Village. Kagome walked up to him with a small smile, as he waited for her patiently.

"We are here." He placed his hands on his hips and smiled down at her.

"I see that." She glanced around. She wasn't able to see much of the village from where they were standing, but she did like what she could see. It seemed like a very small, quant, and peaceful village.

"You think you'll find your wings here?" He asked, curious.

"Maybe." She shrugged, yet regretted it when she did, her arm throbbing from the motion.

"You should get your arm healed first, and get some red potion at the shop." He told her, as he looked down at her in concern.

"I'll be fine—"

"You are a very stubborn woman, you know that?" He placed his hand on his hip and looked down at her with a small frown. She just raised an eyebrow at him, waving off his comment like one would shoo away a fly. "You're wounds will not heal on their own from a Re-dead bite, you must use a potion." But he doesn't know her body, or the powers of a Miko—She'll be fine. "Do you have any Rupees to buy the potion with?" He asked, still being persistent with her.

"Ru… pees?" What's a Rupee?

"If you don't have any—" He reached into his side, and pulled out a pouch, a yellow crystal sowed on it. "Take some of mine."

"No." Kagome raised her hands and waved them back and forth while shaking her head. "I don't want your money—" He reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"I don't care, take it anyway." He pulled her hand close to him. She sighed, feeling defeated and allowing him to pay her, just so he would feel better. She opened her palm, and he smiled at her, nodding. "Here." He reached into his pouch, and after a few jingles, he pulled out two beautiful red crystals, as long as your pinky finger. "Forty should be plenty." He placed the two jewels in her palm and she looked down at them strangely, raising an eyebrow.

What kind of world uses pretty glass gems as payment? She decided to not question it, for using paper as payment, like in her world, would probably seem just as ridicules to them, as these crystals are to her…

"Do you have a bottle?" His question snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked up at him, confused.

"A bottle?"

"To hold the potion." He was tying his pouch back onto his belt loop as he spoke to her.

"Don't they have the potion already in a bottle when they give it to me?"

"It doesn't work like that, you don't get a free bottle just for buying something." What-? Why not? It's like that in her world— "So you don't have one?" Kagome shook her head. "Here." He pulled out a bottle, some of the red potion was still inside of it. He pulled the cork out, and tipped the remaining red ooze out onto the grassy floor. When it was empty, he placed the cork back on, and reached it out to her. "You can use mine."

"I can't take your bottle—"

"I got two others, I'll be fine." He then took her empty hand, and placed the container in her palm, leaving her no choice. "If you go straight, there is stairs to your left, the shop should be up there." He pointed to a set of stairs she could see from where they were standing by the archway.

"Thank you, Link." She bowed deeply in gratitude towards him. Both her hands were full from the items he was gracious enough to let her have.

"It's no real trouble." He reached up and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Just make sure you get your arm healed, alright?"

"I will." She placed the bottle and jewels in her shorts pocket. She then began walking away, and waved to him over her shoulder. Link raised his own hand, waving back at her, a small smile on his face as he said goodbye. "Thanks again." She headed to the left, going towards the stairs he mentioned earlier.

When she was out of his view, he placed his hand under his chin in thought and glanced around. "If I was a special object, needed to get into a temple—where would I be hidden?" He thought to himself as he walked forward, and turned to the right, instead of left.

* * *

Link climbed a small set of stairs, and when he reached the top he looked to the right. The long eared male shook his head, knowing that going into the house before him wouldn't help much. It belonged to the cursed spider family, and they probably wouldn't know anything about a special object to get into a temple, for they were unable to leave their house.

Link then continued onward, going to the left from the fork in the path. He hummed to himself as he glanced to the building on his left as he went down the short but narrow path.

"So they made this building into a targeting range?" He placed his hand underneath his chin in thought, as he continued to stare at the building while he was still walking. If he remembered correctly, seven years ago, it was not finished- "Ooffph!" He gave a small grunt when he bumped into something, catching him off guard and he had to take a step back.

He looked at what he bumped into, and his eyes widened slightly. He had a look of regret on his face when he saw a woman sitting on the ground, a distraught look as she reached up and tried to pull back the hair that was now in front of her face in waves, her clothes covered in spots of dirt.

"What happened?" She seemed completely confused as she parted the curtain that was her thick locks and glanced around to see what hit her.

"I'm so sorry." Link kneeled down before her and tilted his head so he could get a look at her face to see if she was alright. "I didn't mean to—" He paused and raised an eyebrow. He reached out and moved some more of her hair and a look of recognition flashed on his face. "Auju?" He reached his hand out and held hers carefully in his own, as he stood up, helping her to her feet.

"L-Link?" Once they were both standing again, she pulled her hand away from his, a light blush on her cheeks. "You certainly have grown."

"Yes, it has been awhile." He chuckled to himself. "But I never imagined I would be bumping into you again." She believed his small joke to be funny, and she giggled behind her hand. "I really didn't mean to run into you like that, are you alright?" His blue orbs glanced at her form, to make sure she wasn't hurt by their collision.

"I'm fine." She then began dusting her dress off.

"You sure?"

"Yes, yes." She tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her pointed ear, a dash of pink going across her nose. She glanced away from him, out of the corner of her eyes, trying not to look directly at him. "Why are you here in Kakariko Village?" She then looked back towards him, curious. "I am thrilled at seeing you again, but I have a feeling the reason you are here, is not to see me."

"I _am _happy to see you again, Auju." He confessed. "But you are right, I am looking for something, maybe you can help me?" He placed his hand over his chest and looked down at her, feeling hopeful that she might have the information that he seeks.

"You know I would do anything for you, Link." She paused, before her cheeks became flushed and she placed her hand over her mouth. "I-I didn't mean it like that-!" She moved her hands so that they were over top of her reddened cheeks. "What I meant by that is that—you—you." She looked down, and shook her head. "You helped me when my cuccos escaped their pen. I wouldn't pass up the chance to return the favor."

Link chuckled, finding her embarrassment to be rather cute. "I'm looking for something, and I was told I could find the special item here..." He trailed off while looking at her.

Auju closed her eyes, trying to think. She placed her hand under her chin in thought, and hummed. After a few moments, she shook her head and shrugged.

"I can't think of anything like that around here."

"Well, that's alright." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help." She frowned slightly, placing her hands onto her chest.

"It's fine." He sighed. "I'm sure I'll find it, thanks anyway." He smiled at her, before he turned around. "I'll make sure to stop by if I'm in town again." He waved to her over his shoulder.

"It was nice running into you again, Link." She returned his wave, smiling at him. He chuckled at her joke.

"Goodbye." He then walked off, turning towards the well.

Link hoped that Kagome was having better luck then he was at the moment.

* * *

"Bye…" Auju whispered under her breath, even though he couldn't hear her. She stopped her slow waving, and lowered her hand, looking down at it. She ran her fingers lightly over her palm, using her other hand. "He has become such a strong and handsome man…" Her cheeks became flushed, as she remembered the strong grip he had as he held her hand and pulled her to her feet. She placed her hands onto her cheeks and giggled to herself, shaking her head. "So embarrassing…" She tried to get a hold of herself, and she looked away from where she saw Link heading. She found herself looking towards the pathway that leads to the graveyard. "Hmm?"

She paused as something came to her mind…

That couldn't possibly be what he was after—Could it?

* * *

Kagome walked up the stairs to her left, when she did, she noticed that she did not see any other buildings or a store around. (Though there was a strange man, sitting on the ground and patting his lap over and over again, who she wisely chose to ignore.) She did however see another short set of stairs, so she quickly scaled those as well.

When she reached the top she found what she was looking for, and went into the building on her left.

She entered, the sound of a soft chime going off when she did so. The building was rather empty, except for a few large pots and boxes placed in different areas, so she went up to the counter, seeing nothing she could browse and look at on the floor.

"Good evening ma'am." The large bearded man behind the counter greeted her with a deep and rough voice, but otherwise was rather nice. "How can I help you this fine day?"

Her eyes immediately focused on the items placed on the shelves behind him, for display—which sadly, wasn't much. There was strange objects she never seen before, something that looked like a seed, bombs—Why he had bombs, she wasn't sure. A familiar looking shield, she remembers seeing as the same kind that Link carried on his back. She remembers it well, for it was the only thing she could look at as she was walking behind him the whole way to the village. Then she spotted them: Arrows.

She was about to point at them, asking the man to let her look, but then she remembered why she even came into the store in the first place:

"Do you have any red potions?" Kagome asked. Link was nice enough to lend her the money, she might as well buy what he wanted her to buy instead of wasting it on the arrows—Even though she needed them.

"Sorry." The man shook his head and shrugged. "I only carry weapons and shields. If you want something for your bottle, go to the building across from here." He pointed at the window that was beside the door Kagome entered from. You could easily see the building that was directly across from his, out of the glass. She began to wonder how he could stand there all day with nothing but the other store to look at- "They sell that stuff there."

"Oh, I see…" She sighed. Seems she chose to go into the wrong shop—figures. She found her eyes going back to the arrows, unable to look away from them.

"But I've noticed that something has caught your eye…" He smirked down at her.

"…" She thought about it, wondering if it would be a good idea or not. She shrugged. She is just going to look— "The arrows." Looking never hurt anyone.

"A fine choice." He reached below his counter, and pulled out a single arrow, placing it onto his counter for her to inspect freely. She obliged, and reached out, inspecting the nicely carved weapon.

She first glanced at the feathers, to make sure there were no bad rips in it. She then bent the arrow from the center, testing to see if the wood was stiff, yet still pliable. Last, she ran her thumb across the arrowhead, looking at the sharpness of the metal. She hummed, and nodded to herself in acceptance. Not too bad…

"How much?" She asked as she looked back up at him.

"We sell them in bundles of 10, 30, and 50." He told her.

"I can't carry 50, and I will need more then 10." She mumbled to herself.

"Ok, 30 it is." He nodded. "That will be 60 Rupees."

She laid down the arrow, and reached into her pocket. She pulled out the two beautiful gems that Link gave to her.

"You do not have enough, if that is all you got." He hummed as he crossed his arms over his chest, his large muscles flexing from the motion and looking rather intimidating. "I'm sorry, but no Rupees-" He shook his head, a small frown on his face. "No arrows."

"Thank you anyway; I guess I'll have to go next door then." She turned on her heels-

"Wait." His gruff voice caused her to stop and she turned to look at him. "Maybe I can cut you a deal, hmm?"

"A deal?" She turned back to him and raised an eyebrow.

"How about I give you 20 arrows, for 40 Rupees?" He leaned against the counter with a smirk on his face. "That's a good deal, hmm?"

"20 for 40?" She repeated, placing her hand under her chin. "I think 25 for 40 sounds like a better deal."

"25 arrows for 40 Rupees!" He sounded completely appalled by the idea. "That's robbery!"

"No, that's a bargain." She sighed, and looked at her nails in a bored fashion. "But you know what?" She hummed, smiling at him. "I think the shop next door is going to be more willing to accept my Rupees…" She turned to walk away—

"No!" He called, his hand reached out to as if to stop her.

"Hmmm?" She turned just enough so she could look at him over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"I mean." He coughed in his hand to clear his throat. "25 arrows for…" He cleared his throat again. "40 Rupees." He looked as if he was in pain. "Sounds like a fair price."

"Good." She smiled, and placed her two gems on the counter.

The burly man reached back under his counter, and pulled up a bundle of arrows, tided together neatly with a leather strap. Kagome reached her hands out, and the man lowered the arrows into her hands—

"Wait." He paused just as the arrows were about to touch her palms. "You do have a bow and quiver, don't you?" He looked down at her, and raised an eyebrow in question towards her.

"Why would I buy them if I didn't?" She replied with a smart remark. The shop keeper just shrugged, and then finally placed her arrows into her open arms. "Thanks." She hugged the arrows to her chest, and flashed him a happy smile.

"Have a good day, ma'am." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, his cheeks flushed red.

"You too." She spoke over her shoulder. She struggled with the arrows in one arm, and reached out to the door knob, opening it. The soft chime rang once more, before she left the store, and closed the door behind her.

* * *

Kagome was walking down the steps, having more than a difficult time doing so while trying to keep the bundle of arrows in her arms from falling out of her hands. A sharp pain stabbed her in the arm and she stumbled, her foot almost slipping out from under her just as she was on the last couple of steps. She gave a sigh of relief when she caught herself just in time before she fell on her face, or worse, broken her newly bought arrows.

When her feet was touching solid ground, she shifted the arrows in her arms—She hissed when another stab of pain jabbed her, this time in the side when an arrow poked her in the rib.

"Stupid arrows." She mumbled, having a difficult time not only keeping hold of the bundle, but since her mind was in a mess, the pain not helping any, she was having a hard time picturing her quiver, calling it forth from her necklace so she could place the annoying arrows inside and free her hands—"Ugh!" She groaned when something suddenly hit her, and she had to take several steps back. The bundle of arrows in her arms almost slipped out and she caught them just in time before they fell. What just happened?

"I'm sorry." A deep voice spoke. "I didn't mean to run into you— That's the second time today…" He mumbled under his breath. "I should probably look were I'm going—" He paused.

Unable to look above the pointy sticks she was holding in her arms, Kagome turned to the side, so she could look at who bumped into her.

"Link?" She raised an eyebrow when she saw a very familiar green clad, blue eyed, blond haired, elf-man.

"Kagome?" He seemed to be just as surprised to see her, as she was of him.

"**What are you doing here?" **They both spoke at the same time. Kagome laughed, and Link chuckled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Why are you still in Kakariko?" Kagome asked, as she shifted the arrows in her arms to try and get a better hold, so they wouldn't slip from her grasp.

"I told you." He smirked. "I had my own reasons that had nothing to do with you, for wanting to go to Kakariko." He paused. "Where did you get those arrows?"

"Ummm…" She tried to think of an excuse, any excuse really, other than the fact that she used the money that he gave her, and instead of buying medicine, she spent it on something else… "A nice guy gave them to me." She lied—and badly she might add.

"Oh?" He seemed amused and he looked down at her and crossed his arms. "Did you buy the potion?"

"Yes?" Damnit! She was cursing inside of her mind. Why did he have to ask about the potion!?

"Where is it?"

"In my pocket…?" She is a terrible liar.

"Then you wouldn't mind if I just reached in—" He bent down and she felt something suddenly touch her thigh and she jumped in surprise.

"Hey there pervert watch your hands!" She stepped back from him, and sent him a heated glare. But then her eyes landed on the empty container he was holding in front of him. He looked at her with a disappointed expression and shook his head.

"I thought you bought some potion?"

"I already took it." She huffed, turning away from him. The arrows in her arms slipped a little and she had to moved them back around in her arms— Something grabbed hold of her arm, right were her wound was, and squeezed tightly, and she let out a painful hiss almost dropping her arrows.

"Your wound has not healed. You didn't take the potion." His deep voice brushed across her ear, and he let go of her bicep. She sighed when the stabbing pain lessened and she looked towards him with a growl.

"You shouldn't have grabbed me like that-"

"You shouldn't have lied to me like that." She flinched at his words, knowing he was right. He was kind enough to let her have the money, but she spent it on arrows instead of a potion like he wanted her to.

"It's just a small wound, I don't see what the big deal is—"

"I told you before, it might be small but it will make you sick and weak." He shook his head.

"You don't understand, Link, I'm different then you…" Her voice faded slightly, not sure if she should tell him what she is or not.

"Just because you are human, doesn't mean you immune to Re-dead bites."

"Human?" She repeated, and looked up into his blue orbs.

"You think I wouldn't notice?" He reached out, and she felt the warm touch of his fingers as they glided across the edge of her ears. "I have never seen a human before, your ears are quite strange…" He brushed his thumb against her ear lobe and she tried to hold back a shiver. She could feel a large amount of blood rushing up into her cheeks. His focus left from her ear, and his blue orbs locked onto her emerald green. "!" He quickly pulled his hand away, as if he was suddenly burnt. "I didn't mean to—Umm. That was rude of me."

"Very…" She looked away from him, out of the corner of her eyes, yet her cheeks were still stained bright red. She shifted the arrows in her arms, feeling them slip slightly in her hold—

She blinked in surprise when the heavy load was suddenly removed from her arms and she found herself staring back into crystal blue, questioning him.

"Looked like you could use some help." He easily carried the bundle of arrows under his arm, in his other hand was the empty bottle.

He then walked passed her, and went up the stairs. She unconsciously followed behind him without question. Neither one of them spoke a word until they went up the second set of stairs and reached the top.

"Where are you going?"

"Where you should have went the first time." Was his reply. He went into the building on the right, closing the door behind him and leaving Kagome outside by herself.

"Why did he take my arrows with him into the store?" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "He better not sell them." She paid good money for those—It was Link's Rupees, but she was the one that bought them…

Kagome leaned against the wall, waiting for Link to come out of the store. She didn't have to wait too long, for she heard a chime, as the door opened up and Link came back out. The bottle was in his hand, and had the same red goop as before inside of it. Tucked underneath his arm was her arrows. She sighed in relief, glad he didn't get rid of them…

She reached out to grab the arrows—

"Not so fast." He pulled them away from her, and he smirked, placing the bottle in front of her face. "You have to take this, before I give you back your arrows."

What!

"Are you blackmailing me?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"No." He seemed rather amused by the whole thing and chuckled. "I'm just going to hold your arrows for ransom, until you take the potion."

She gave an unladylike snort through her nose, and she snatched the bottle out of his hand. "Stupid elf…" She mumbled under her breath, and reached out, pulling the cork from the bottle—Her eyes widened when she watched a red mist, which was much thicker and darker then she saw back at the courtyard, go over the rim, and down the bottle like a heavy fog, and enveloped her fingers in the thick mist. "You want me to drink this! Are you crazy?"

"If you want your arrows back." He smirked. "It's a little bitter, so it would be best if you just chug the whole thing without tasting it."

"Yeah, right…"

She placed the bottle up to her nose, and took a small sniff. Some of the red mist went up her nostrils—she reeled back and shook her head. Reaching up she rubbed her nose, which now felt extremely itchy. She could hear Link's deep chuckle at her reaction, finding it amusing. Kagome continued to rub her noise, the sudden urge to sneeze overpowered her, and she tried her best to hold it back.

She definitely wasn't going to drink this! She glanced over at Link, her eyes focused on the bundle he had tucked under his arm. Then how was she going to get her arrows back—

"Link!"

Kagome turned towards the voice, and she saw a pretty elf woman running towards them, waving.

"Auju?" Link walked a few steps forward, and meeting her halfway up the steps. When the lady reached him, she paused, placing her hand onto her chest, trying to catch her breath. She held up her hand, telling him to hold on a second.

Kagome looked at Link, and then at the woman he called Auju. She looked back and forth between the two. She glanced down at the potion in her hand, then at Link's back. She gave a small innocent whistle, and she extended her arm as far as it would reach beside her—

"Oops~." She tilted the bottle, dumping the red liquid out, while her head was turned in the opposite direction, still whistling.

She smirked, as the nasty medicine spilt out of the container in a red stream, landing onto the grassy floor below with a splash. She chuckled in a maniacal way as she shook the empty bottle, watching in satisfaction as the last drop trickled down the side, before finally dripping off the rim and landing on the grass.

"Dampe'?" Link's voice caused her to pause, and she glanced at the two elves that were now talking amongst themselves.

"Yes, I didn't remember until after you left." She looked down sadly. "He passed away." She sighed, tugging on the trimming of her dress. "But they say he found a great treasure before he died, and had it buried with him. It seems he was quite obsessed with it, I'm afraid."

"Ah!" He snapped his fingers, smiling. "That must be it!" Overcome with joy, he wrapped his only free arm around the woman's neck, and pulled her into an embrace. It was so shocking, Kagome paused just as she was about to put the cork on the empty bottle, mouth slightly ajar at what she was seeing.

"!" Auju was just as surprised, her face matching the color of a bright tomato.

"Thanks a lot, Auju." He finally released her.

"I umm…" She reached up and placed her hands onto her cheeks and shook her head. "I have to go~" Her face became even redder, and before he had time to say anything, she ran down the stairs, leaving poor Link behind, staring at her retreating back with a confused look on his face.

Link shifted the bundle of arrows that were under his arm, before he turned around. Kagome froze for a moment, and looked down at the bottle in her hand. Time seemed to slow down, and her brain began working overtime on how to explain herself—Only one answer came to her:

Lie your ass off.

"UGH!" She stuck out her tongue, and shook her head. "That's nasty!" She wiped her mouth with her arm, and had a disgusted look on her face—or what she hoped looked like a convincing disgusted look.

"I told you to chug it…" He smirked, and placed a hand onto his hip, slightly amused by her antics. She shivered, and stuck out her tongue again, spitting on the ground, as if trying to remove the last bit of flavor left in her mouth.

"I can't believe you made me drink that!" She placed the cork onto the bottle with a snort. "Here." She reached the bottle out to him, and he chuckled, taking it. He placed it behind his back, putting it up.

"And here's your arrows." He removed the arrows from underneath his arm. She smiled, reaching her arms out to take them—He paused just as the arrows were a few inches from her, pulling them back and looking at her questionably. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you have a bow and quiver?"

She groaned, almost wanting to smack herself in the forehead—or better yet, at Link's face would be more satisfying.

"Why would I buy them, if I didn't?" She gave Link the same smartass remark she gave the store worker.

"I don't see any bow on you." He glanced up and down her body.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. Is this perverted elf serious? She closed her eyes and created a perfect picture in her mind, of her bow and quiver. How her bow rested against her back, while her quiver would be against her right hip at all times. She felt a familiar material brushing against her thigh, and extra weight placed on her shoulders, before she heard a small gasp come from the elf man in front of her.

"Satisfied?" She didn't have to look at herself to know her bow was there; his shocked expression was all she needed. She rolled her eyes and reached out, snatching the bundle from his grasp, the motion snapping him out of his trance.

"Where did they come from?" He asked, curious.

"I've had them the whole time." She told him, as she began placing the arrows into her quiver.

"Where were you keeping them?" He leaned over and glanced behind her, to see if she had something hidden behind her back.

"I should be asking you the same thing. Where are you hiding your bottles?" She raised an eyebrow at him. Leggings and tunics don't necessarily come with pockets. He just shrugged.

Kagome hummed, smiling when she saw the arrows all placed into her quiver, happy at seeing it fully loaded. Now she was prepared for a fight—After she stared at it for a few more moments, she nodded, and called her bow and quiver back where they were before, hidden from sight-

"Hmm, that's interesting." His words caused Kagome to pause and look up at him. He placed his hand under his chin in thought as he looked at her with a serious expression. "Does your necklace have anything to do with it?"

She decided to give him a break, since he was observant enough to notice her necklace. "Yes."

"I thought I saw it glowing…" He was mostly talking to himself as he stared down at her necklace with keen interest. "Where did you get it?" He asked, curious.

"From the same half naked woman who told me to Kill Ganondick." She told him—Link almost snorted out in surprise by here comment, then he began to laugh, his deep bellow rumbling out as he placed his hand on his stomach.

"I think that's the perfect name for him…" He reached up and wiped the corner of his eyes, removing the tears.

"Glad you think so." She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked.

"So…" He stood straight and looked down at her, yet his amused grin never left his face. "There really was a half-naked woman, and she gave you that necklace?"

"Why would I lie about something like that?" She turned away from him and rolled her eyes. "If you really want to know, she called herself the Great Fairy of Power."

"The Great Fairy?" Kagome's eyes widened when Link suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around so that she was looking at him. "Are you sure it was one of the Great Fairies?" He had a serious look on his face as he searched her for any sign of her lying about this new information.

"Yes, I'm sure." She swatted away his hands that were resting on her shoulders, and glared at him.

"**She** is the one who told you that you had to kill Ganondorf?"

"What is with you?" She narrowed her eyes at his odd behavior.

"This can't be coincidence…" She watched him cautiously as he began pacing back and forth, his hand under his chin in thought as he mumbled to himself. "Yes, I know, but I was thinking about it at the courtyard as well-" He hummed. "If it was the Great Fairy, then I'm positive." Positive about what? "You think so too?" Kagome raised an eyebrow at him—Link finally stopped his pacing, and glanced at her. "What should I say?" He sighed, before finally turning fully to face her, a small smile on his face. "Kagome?"

She was debating whether or not to respond—Link was acting kind of crazy…

"Yeah?" She decided that she might as well ignore that he was just talking to himself just a few moments ago, letting it slide and pretending like everything was normal.

"You remember when I told you that I had my reasons for being in Kakariko Village?" Kagome just nodded in reply. "I'm actually looking for a special item, and I was wondering if you would like to join me—" He paused and scratched the back of his head. "What I mean to say is, if you wanted to, would you help me look for it?"

"Why would I do that?" She questioned him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"What I am looking for, is something that will allow me to reach a temple, where I'm supposed to be going."

"I will ask again: Why would I help you?"

"Well, I did just give you 70 Rupees not too long ago." Kagome flinched as Link pulled a low blow, hitting her where it hurt: Reminding her the fact that she owes him. "Oww!" He suddenly called out, and reached up, scratching his head. "What was that for?" He glanced out of the corner of his eyes, and upwards slightly as if he was looking towards the sky. Kagome raised an eyebrow towards him—What is his problem? "Alright, alright—Sheesh." He looked over at Kagome, and in that moment she was deciding whether she should turn and walk away, or pull out her sword—"What if I told you that this item might be what you are looking for?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"You are also looking for a pair of wings, so you can cross a molten lake of lava?"

"Well, not wings _**exactly**_…" His voice faded for a moment as he seemed slightly hesitant. "I really don't know what it is I'm looking for, to tell you the truth—" He shrugged. "But it might be worth a look, if it could help you as well, wouldn't you think?"

"Hmmm." She slowly removed her hand, which was placed cautiously on her sword, lowering it as she gave it a thought.

"Do you have any other leads on how to get to Ganondorf?" He reminded her of the fact that she was completely lost on what to do, or where to go next.

"Not really…" She glanced down at the ground, not meeting his eyes.

"Then it's decided." He smiled, than started walking ahead, going back down the stairs.

"I haven't decided anything yet." She huffed. Link paused, and then looked at her over his shoulder. She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

"What's there left to decide?" He turned around to face her—He had sly smirk across his face. "Am I really that bad of company?" She smirked as well, and took the few steps needed to reach him.

"Do you want me to answer that?" She gave him a playful smack on the chest, as she passed him going down the stairs. He gave a small huff.

"I'm not that bad." He turned and followed her down the stairs, but once we got to the bottom, he took lead, for she had no idea where to go, but he did.

"For a perverted elf, maybe…"

"Perverted elf?" He repeated, blinking in confusion before he glanced at her over his shoulders. She chuckled slightly, finding his expression to be amusing.

* * *

"Okay." Link heard Kagome speak up as she stood beside him. "Tell me again how is it that you convinced me to come with you?" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"With my dashing good looks, and charming personality?" She gave a huff in reply and he chuckled. "You were bored, and had no other leads?"

"Okay, I'll give you that one." She nodded, agreeing for the most part. "Now tell me this: Why are we in a graveyard?" She shivered slightly, rubbing her arms as goosebumps started to dot her skin. He chuckled again.

"I'm looking for something." He walked forward, passing underneath the archway that lead into the small graveyard.

"Why is it in a graveyard?" She yelled to him from several feet away, never moving from her spot.

"Don't ask me, I wasn't the one who put it here." He shrugged again, glancing at the tomb that was now at his feet, looking at the cravings engraved into it. He shook his head, and continued on, reading the next tombstone. "Come on Kagome, there's nothing too bad in here—Just some ghosts, and maybe a few Re-dead."

"Wow. That makes me feel so much better." She said, sarcasm dripping from every word as she gave him a blank expression. "You can at least be nice—" Kagome paused in her words, as she slowly gathered her courage and stepped underneath the archway, and began walking towards him. Her arms were still wrapped around her body as she glanced around wide eyed at every noise and movement. "And tell me—" She shivered when she passed a spider that was crawling on the wall beside her. "Why are we really in a graveyard, and stop being such a_** smartass**_." The last words were filled with venom as she hissed them out, finally beside him once again, and he chuckled in amusement.

"Dampe', the old grave keeper…" He ran his hands over the letters engraved in the stone, he shook his head, and moved on to the next one. "He died, and had his most treasured possession buried with him." He hummed as he glanced down at the tombstone, before shaking his head again. "I have a feeling it might be what we need."

"So…" Kagome stopped following him for a second, and raised an eyebrow at him. "You're going to go and steal an old, _**dead**_ man's, only treasured item?"

"Yea-" He paused for a moment. "I mean, no." He placed his hand under his chin in thought. "Maybe…" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, giving a nervous laugh.

"Idiot." Kagome shook her head at him, before walking past him and up a small incline. Link shrugged, before glancing down at the tombstone by his feet, reading the inscriptions—"I found it." He heard Kagome's voice, and he paused, looking over towards her.

"Really?" He walked up the incline, and stood beside her as she was standing in front of a grave, looking down at it while her arms were still wrapped around her.

He looked down as well, reading the words engraved into the cold stone: _Here lies Dampe', the grave keeper._

"Good work." He smiled down at her. She just shrugged, the movement looking a little odd, since she still had her arms wrapped around her body—"You cold?" He looked at her with slight concern.

"No, it's just creepy here, and I'm getting chills." She shivered and gave a small sound of discomfort. "Ugh~"

"Alright, I'll try and hurry up so we can get out of here."

He rubbed his hands together, before placing them on top of the tombstone. He gave a small grunt as he put all of his shoulders and back into it, pushing it back with all his might. His dug his feet into the ground, but they began to slip on the mud and grass beneath him, not giving him much traction. He felt something brush against him and he glanced over, seeing Kagome beside him, pushing as well. He smiled—He gave a small shout of victory in his mind when the heavy stone began moving.

Within a few shoves, the stone was moved halfway, and he smirked, glad that Kagome was with him to help him out. She was rather strong—

"Ah!" She gave a sudden shout when her foot went into the hole under the gravestone and Link instinctively reached out and grabbed her. "Ugh!" She gave a small hiss when he grabbed her right hand, and held onto her tightly, his other hand supporting him, placed onto the ground. He looked down, seeing her dangling below him, holding on with a pained look on her face.

"Hold on! I got you!" He gave a small grunt, and began pulling her up.

She reached up and wrapped her other hand around his, and she placed her feet onto the side and began walking up the wall. It wasn't too much effort to pull the light woman up, but when it was finished, he couldn't help himself as he plopped onto his back, and looked up at the dark sky, out of breath. He could hear Kagome breathing ragged as well, her chest moving up and down as she tried to catch her breath.

"Who puts a hole underneath the gravestone like that!" She shouted, clearly surprised by the sudden dangerous encounter she almost had. A rumble began in his chest, as he chuckled, unable to stop himself. "It's not funny, Link!" She glared down at him, and his deep chuckle grew louder. He felt a painful sting on his arm and he hissed.

"Oww." He reached up, and rubbed his sore bicep that she punched. He sat up, and even though his arm was still tingling from the hit he just received, he continued to laugh. "What would you say if I told you that we have to go down there?" She turned towards him, and gave him a 'you're not serious' expression, and he smirked.

"There is no way I'm going down there." She stated. Link got to his feet, and dusted himself off. "Why did you save me then, if I have to go down there anyway?" She huffed.

"You would have landed oddly and quite possibly hurt your ankle." He told her. "That and…" He shrugged. "I saw you slip, and I just reached out and grabbed you." He saw that she still had a defiant look on her face, and he hummed. "If I didn't grab you, and you got hurt, I would have had to buy more red potion for you to drink." The moment he spoke those words, her face warped into a horrified expression and he chuckled in amusement, watching her shiver in disgust. "Well." He walked over towards the hole, and looked down into it. He saw the endless darkness below him, and his eyes narrowed at it, hoping it wasn't as deep as it looked. "Stay here if you want, but I'm going."

He had to get the item to go to the forest temple, so he had no choice in the matter…

He didn't even wait for Kagome to reply, before he leaped into the hole, praying to the goddesses that he landed safely. He could hear Kagome's echoing voice as she called after him—His legs shook when his feet hit solid stone, and he gave a painful groan. He had to wait a moment, before shaking them, trying to get some feeling back into them from the hard landing. Thankfully, it wasn't as far as he thought, nor did he land on his butt.

Link crouched down and rubbed his tingling legs, trying to message the blood through them and remove the numbness. Maybe next time he should roll before he hits the bottom. He glanced around, finding himself in awe at his surroundings.

He was standing on a stone platform, and several stone pillars were placed around it. He hummed as he continued to rub his legs-

"Link!" His ears twitched when the echoing sound of Kagome's voice clearly reaching where he was. "Are you okay!"

He looked up at the hole that was directly above him, where he fell out of. He opened his mouth to respond, but then he paused—He smirked, and continued to rub his calves, deciding not to reply.

"Link!" Kagome waited a few more moments before calling his name again. "**Link**!"

Link stood up, and looked up at the hole, the smirk still on his face. He cupped his hand beside his mouth, and gave a small painful groan. "Ugghg~"

"Link!" She called to him again. "Are you hurt!" Link had to cover his mouth, to try and stop himself from laughing and giving himself away. After a moment, he looked back up and placed his hand to his mouth again.

"…gome…" He groaned out once more. "Can't… move." He looked back down and quickly covered his mouth back up with his hand, as he tried not to laugh.

"Hold on!" When he heard Kagome's shout, he glanced back up at the ceiling—

"Oomph!" He grunted when something suddenly landed on top of him and he crumbled onto the ground. The back of his head smacked against the stone and his vision was filled with spots, forcing him to close his eyes.

What the hell was that? He groaned, his world spinning around inside of his brain and he laid there for a moment. He was having trouble breathing, for something heavy was on his chest.

He tried to sit up, but something was weighing him down and he couldn't move. He lifted his head, but then his world was a haze, and dizzy, forcing him to plop it back down onto the stone with a thud- He groaned from smashing his head a second time, wondering why he was stupid enough to smack his head again. He felt like he was doing loops, and his eyes were going around and around underneath his closed lids, his mind trapped in a whirl.

All of his senses were blocked, overpowered by the sweet aroma of vanilla. A soft sound entered his ears.

_L…_

After a moment, the lovely chime came again.

_Link_

That's strange, it sounded kind of like his name…

He felt something brush against his cheek, and he leaned into the touch. It called to him again, and he gave a groan in response this time, forcing himself to try and open his eyes.

When he finally pried his eyelids open his vision was such a blur, that in comparison he was able to see better when his eyes were closed...

"_Link?" _A fuzzy shape in front of him moved a little, and he tried to squint to see it better. The touch moved from his cheek, and was gently combing through his hair in a soothing manner. "-a…r...ou..o-y?" He was now barely able to make out an odd shape and colors, but what stood out, was the brightest green he has ever seen.

They moved their hands, placing them underneath his head, supporting it gently from the cold ground. A pink fuzzy glow came around the edges of his vision, and he had to blink a few times, noticing that his sight was becoming clearer. The emerald green now shone even brighter, and he couldn't help himself, getting hypnotized by their beauty.

"So…beautiful-" He raised his hands, gently touching them on either side as he stared into the green jewels that captivated him. "Like… Rupees…" The words whispered out of his mouth as the fog started to become clearer from his mind with each passing second.

There was a concerned face very close to his, and raven tresses coming down. He paused, seeing his hands gently cupping her face on either side. The pink glow was now gone, his vision restored completely and she removed her hands, placing one of them in front of his face.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" He was looking past her hand, still staring into her bright green orbs. When he didn't answer, she called his name. "Link?" He gently pinched her cheeks, pulling them outward slightly, causing her to make a funny face, and he chuckled. Her concerned expression quickly morphing into an angry one. "Not fo-ny -ink." She muffled out as he continued to stretch her cheeks outward and making it harder for her to talk.

He blinked again, looking down and seeing her sitting on his lap, straddling him. He released her captured cheeks, and propped himself up with his elbows. He smirked.

"I knew it was my good looks and charm." He teased. "You just didn't want to admit it." She snorted at him, placing her hands on her hips, yet he couldn't help but notice there was a dash of pink going across her nose.

"I see you're back to normal now." She placed her hands onto his shoulders, using it for support as she started to get off of him—

"Wait a minute." He reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back down. She gave a small huff in surprise when she plopped back onto his lap. "I kind of like this." He hummed as he was propped onto one elbow, his other hand gently resting against the small of her back.

"I think you hit your head too hard." She used the hands that were on still on his shoulders—"Or maybe not hard enough-!" She pushed him hard. He fell on his back again and his head hit the cold stone with a sickening thud once more.

"Ugh~" He groaned from the ground, his skull throbbing, yet Kagome just huffed in satisfaction, not caring this time, and got to her feet.

"Perverted elf."

* * *

Kagome stood there, her arms crossed over her chest, as she stared down at the green clad pervert groaning on the floor. She found slight enjoyment, watching him clinch his aching skull, and rolling around on the ground in pain.

She believed he deserved what he got—She huffed.

She jumped down the scary hole to help him. Ended up landing on him, which made her feel terrible by the way, though it wasn't really her fault. The poor elf had a bad concussion, could barely speak, and didn't know what was going on, so she used some of her powers to try and heal him—

"_So… beautiful." He reached up and gently placed his hands on either side of her face. A soft look was in his eyes, as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Like… Rupees…" Her cheeks became flushed, yet she didn't pull away from him. _

"…" Kagome's cheeks turned a nice shade of rose, as the memory came back to her and she shook her head, trying to get rid of the image.

How were her eyes like Rupees? She turned around, and away from the flailing elf, thinking to herself. Weren't Rupees red? She placed her hand onto her chin and looked up from the ground— A ghastly face was mere inches from hers.

"**AHhHh**!" She let loose a terrified scream in surprise and took a step back. She reached for the sword by her hip- Link was suddenly in front of her, his sword held out before him protectively. Kagome looked at his back, startled slightly by his appearance.

_His red fire-rat clothing stood out against his long sliver hair, as he stood in front of her protectively, holding out his long blade and facing the enemy. _

Kagome shook her head, willing the image away from her mind. The familiar red ghost was quickly replaced by a green elf and she sighed—Yet the aching in her heart still remained.

"Dampe'?" Link called out in surprise.

"Yes?" He replied. Kagome leaned over, to get a look, and her eyes widened when she saw that the man was floating several feet in the air, holding a lantern in his hand. Link placed his sword back into its sheath and walked up to the ghost. "Hmm." Dampe' paused and then floated closer to him, to get a better look. "I remember you, boy." He gave a small laugh, amused. "It seems that time has done you well."

"I heard that you found a great treasure—Is that true?" Link asked him. Dampe' laughed again.

"What is it to you, if I did?"

"Me and my companion—" Link glanced at her over his shoulder. "It might be what we've been searching for."

"…" Dampe' looked from Link, then at her. He hummed, as if he was thinking something over.

"Please?" Kagome moved out from behind Link and looked at his ghostly form.

"If you think you are going to get my precious treasure, just because you asked nicely, you thought wrong." Both Link and her shifted in our spots, uneasy. "But if you work for it… I might let you have it." His words caused us to glance at him, hopeful.

"What do you want us to do?" Kagome step forward. Dampe' chuckled, amused by her enthusiasm.

"Like you boy, time as also done me well." He continued to chuckle. "I have gotten rid of my weak and slow body—In this form I am much faster than I was when I was alive." He told them. "If you are willing to race me and win—" He paused. "No, you don't have to win." He chuckled, a cocky grin appeared on his face. "Winning against me would be impossible—Just keeping up with my speed will suffice."

"Then you will give us your treasure?" Link asked.

Dampe' nodded. "I'm sure you will be just as pleased by it as I was when I had it—when I was alive, that is."

"Alright." Link nodded as well. "I accept—" Kagome gave him a rough jab in his rib and he grunted in surprise.

"**We** accept." She corrected.

"Very well." The ghost's grin grew, and he turned, looking at her. She raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was staring at her- "Ladies first?" He suggested that Kagome should be the one to try racing him first.

Kagome shrugged, not caring to go first. She was actually pretty quick on her feet, even more so since she was no longer carrying her heavy boomerang bone on her back. She glanced over at Link, and noticed that he wished to speak out in objection— He sighed.

"I'll wait here then…" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Are you pouting?" Kagome teased, getting up close to his face and smirking.

"N-no." He tried to play it off, and turned his head away from her, his cheeks becoming flushed.

"Yes you are!" She reached out pinching his cheek playfully—Revenge for him doing the same thing to her earlier.

He didn't push her away, or even swat her hand. He just sighed in defeat, allowing her to pester and poke him. She giggled, before reaching out and pinching his other cheek. She then began to find much amusement for herself as she stretched and morphed his face. The elf just stood there, taking it like a champ-

"My name is Link~" She made her voice deeper, as she mocked him, speaking as she was stretching his cheeks out at the same time, and making his mouth move. "I am so jealous that I'm not the one racing Dampe' Grrrr~!" She pulled his face down, so that he was frowning—Link's eyebrows were angled downward at that moment, obviously not as amused by it, and Kagome giggled, laughing at the funny face he was making.

"Al-wight." He mumbled out. "Jo –ad your fon" He gently brushed her hands away from his cheeks, yet he had an amused expression on his face as he looked down at her.

"Are you ready?" Dampe' asked, floating closer to them.

"Yes." Kagome turned towards him, placing her hand on her hips and humming.

"Good." The ghost nodded.

"Good luck." Link padded her shoulder in encouragement, and she smiled at him over her shoulder.

There was a tense moment of silence, before Dampe' suddenly took off.

* * *

Taking that as her cue to start, she jumped off the platform and ran after him. Without the added weight of her weapons, her speed and reflexes were something to be awed at, as she easily kept up with the ghost. Yet just when she was within arm's reach, a flame fell out of his lantern, landing on the floor in front of her path. She dodged to the side easy enough, but it caught her off guard and it cost her time—The sly ghost floating off ahead, and taken a sharp turn where she was unable to see where he ran off to.

She cursed the trickster, and then took the corner, going right—

"Shit!" She swore out loud this time, as she ran into a dead end. She quickly turned on her heels and went around the other corner, hoping she wasn't too late.

_Tick—_

_Tock—_

What the hells is that?

_Tick—_

She glanced around as she was running, unsure if she was really headed in the right direction or not, the ghost long gone and out of sight—

_Tock-_

She skid around a corner, then another, and another, going by instinct alone. She began feeling lost, as every area all looked the same to her.

_Tick—_

_Tock-_

Seeing purple torches placed on either side of an opening, she decided to take the chance and go into it—

_Tick-_

A stone slab came down from behind her just as she walked through, and she jumped in surprise.

"He-he-he." Hearing a chuckle in amusement, she looked over, spotting a grinning ghost floating a little ways off ahead of her.

"You-!" She didn't have time to cuss him out, for he quickly darted away again, sill laughing at her. She growled, but had no choice but to chase after him once more.

This time, Kagome was waiting for his cheap moves, so when she caught up to him, she dodged out of the way of the fire, and kept a close eye on where he was headed. She quickly ran down some stairs, and she flinched when her ribs began to throb with pain, slowing down her decent.

When she reached the bottom, she sprinted forward to try and catch up to the ghost once more, but then she stumbled slightly and ran into a large stalagmite, ramming her right shoulder into it hard. She screamed out in pain, before she hissed, and reached up, clinching her arm, the previous wound now aching. She leaned against the cold stone for a moment, as she tried to catch her breath, her world spinning around her.

She glanced up, seeing a blur of movement going around another stalagmite, and away from view-

_Tick—_

_Tock—_

"Damnit!" She cursed under her breath and forced herself away from the stone, and continued the race.

It came to a point where Kagome had lost count how many doorways she had to run through, and she was at her wits end. She swore, if the guy wasn't dead already, she could guaranty that he would have been by the end of this race when she got through with him.

Her breathing had become ragged, heaving up and down with every shaky gasp. Her right hand was clinching her burning and aching side. She could feel the warm liquid sliding down her skin underneath her shirt, as she continued to push herself and opening up the wound on her rib. Her right arm was throbbing with pain as well, and she was beginning to see spots in front of her eyes—

She paused, and skidded to a halt when she suddenly came upon three walls, all scaling high above her in height. She bit her lower lip as she looked at each ledge, unsure of witch one Dampe' took. Knowing that she didn't have much time to think about it, she ran forward, choosing the middle one directly ahead of her.

She reached to her side, and pulled out her sword as she approached the ledge at high speed. Just as she got to it, she jumped with all her might. When she reached the peak of her jump, she pulled back her sword and stabbed the metal into the stone, piercing the stone as if it were butter.

Her body jerked to a stop, and she hissed, her arm throbbing as she dangled there. She pushed the pain away and she used her foot, kicking herself away from the wall with all her might. She created a beautiful half circle motion from that one kick, and when her body was upside down, she switched her hands, turned her body around, and landed on the hilt of her sword so perfectly, any gymnast would be proud of.

Standing on her sword, the top of the ledge just came to her waist, and she hoisted herself up as easily as one could when exiting a swimming pool. When she pulled herself up completely, she turned around and bent down over the edge, pulling her sword out of the stone wall, not wanting to leave it behind.

Her wounds continued to ache, but she ignored them best she could, and got to her feet. She stumbled upon standing, and she reached up, placing her hand onto her head to try and still her brain that was raddling inside of her skull. She shook her head, not the best move, but it was the only thing she could do to try and snap herself out of her sudden dizziness. She shorted, disappointed at herself, before her stubbornness came up and she took off in a sprint, not even bothering to wait for the spots to clear from her vision.

As she ran she kept a tight hold on her sword that was still in her right hand. Her body ached, and her breathing was labored. A path came up to her left, but she ignored it, deciding to continue going straight. Spots were still covering up most of her sight, and she reached up with her free hand, rubbing her eye to try and clear her vision.

She wasn't completely sure why, exactly, but something in the back of her fuzzed filled mind, told her to look behind her—

"HA!" She let loose a pleased laugh when she spotted a very surprised ghost trailing behind her, as she looked over her shoulder.

Dampe' obviously wasn't as happy at the sudden change of positions, as his once gapped tooth grin was pulled down into a frown. Kagome didn't care though, in fact, she was rather excited with the turn of events, and she gave out an excited cry of joy picking up her speed—The spots became worse, and her joyful call changed into an irritated growl as she reached up and rubbed both her eyes with her forearm harshly, to try and clear away the annoying blotches.

She gasped in surprise when her foot slipped and she suddenly became weightless. She removed her arm, and she was staring down an endless black pit beneath her. Her mouth was open, yet no sound came out, for the very air was sucked from her lungs in fear. Her hair and clothes were flying around her, flapping as her body continued to fall further down into the darkness.

She acted more on instincts when her right hand, which still held her sword, pulled back. Like she did moments ago, she stabbed her sword into the stone. She cut the rock, but she was still falling, her sword dragging and tearing through the stone and slowing her descent. Her sword hit a large boulder stuck in the cliff, and she jerked to a halt.

Her voice miraculously returned, for she let loose a painful scream as her wounded arm felt as if it was ripped from her shoulders. She closed her eyes as tears started to swell in them and she bit her lower lip. She reached up with her left hand, gripping the hilt tightly, her right hand slipping as the pain continued to stab her through her arm and shoulder.

She raised her right hand, reaching for any accessible stone sticking out of the cliff that she could have a good grip on. She easily enough found one, but lifting herself up was the actual hard part. She steady herself, her left hand holding her sword, while her other had a hold of a stone. She took a deep breath, and with all her might she could muster with a painfully throbbing arm, she hefted herself up with much struggle—

"RaAh!" She pulled the sword out of the ridge, holding herself in place with just her right hand, and quickly stabbed her blade on a higher spot above her.

She placed her feet on the best place she could find to rest them on, which wasn't much, and she looked up, spotting another stone above her. She reached up with her right hand to grab it and the whole cycle started over again, as she pulled with her right hand up, and stabbed her sword in a higher spot, slowly – and painfully—climbing her way back to the top-

_Tick—_

_Tock—_

"Damnit!" She cursed when a familiar sound reached all the way where she was in the chasm. She tried to move faster—Raising her trembling hand, she grasped another stone and lifted shakily up—Her grip slipped- "Aah!" She let loose a scream, dangling from just her left hand as she held on to her sword as if her life depended on it—which it did.

She tried again, grabbing the rock with her weak hand while desperately placing her feet against the stone, trying to find a place to stand. She pulled herself up, her whole arm trembling and throbbing.

_Tick—_

"Oh, shut up." She mumbled under her breath as she jabbed her sword into the cliff for what seemed like the hundredth time.

_Tock—_

She looked up, and she smiled to herself when she saw the edge of the ridge. Her hope lifted her spirits, and gave her the last bit of energy she needed. She lifted herself up with both arms, grunting. Placing her foot on a steady edge, she raised her left hand up first, getting a good grip on the side, before her right hand came next.

She shakily hosted herself up, and over the edge of the cliff, before finally plopping down onto her belly with a relived sigh, her lower half of her body still hanging of the side.

"I did it~" She spoke out between her gasps, as her whole body shook with every deep breath she inhaled—

_Tick—_

"UgghhHhh!" She groaned out, cursing worse than Inuyasha inside of her skull when the sound continued to taunt her, ruining her happy moment of being alive as it echoed in her mind.

_Tock—_

She placed her hands underneath her, and pushed the ground with all her might, lifting herself up—Her arms felt like jelly and wobbled uncontrollably. She grunted when her elbows buckled and she hit the ground once more with a thud, her right arm in particular sending shocks of pain which caused her to flinch. Growling in annoyance, she called forth her sword, willing it back into her hand. She snorted through her nose when the familiar feeling of its wrapped hilt was clinched between her locked fingers.

She stabbed the tip into the ground, and used the sword like a crutch, and with both hands on the hilt, lifted herself up with a drawn groan.

_Tick—_

"Shut up!" She screamed just as she was standing on her two feet. She reached up with her left hand, clinching her right arm as it hung limply, her sword gripped loosely in her weak hand.

_Tock—_

The pauses between the sounds seemed to have shortened, and Kagome knew she had no time to wait—

_Tick—_

"I said—" She began wobbling up a ramp, which went in a small spiral upwards, leading up to a doorway, torches placed on either side of the opening.

_Tock—_

"Shut up—" _Tick—_"You stupid—" _Tock—_"Stupid—" _Tick—_"Stupid—" She squeezed her arm tighter, which caused a jolt of pain to shoot through her entire body and she gave a hiss, flinching— A stone slab fell down behind her, landing with a loud crash and she screamed out in surprise, jumping.

She glanced behind her, seeing the doorway was now closed off, blocked by the heavy thick stone and she raised an eyebrow. Wait a second- She paused, glancing around for a moment, before a small smile appeared on her face, realizing that her mind was no longer bombarded with the sound of the annoying 'tick-tock'.

"He-he-He." Instead, it was attacked with another familiar sound of a certain ghost's laughter.

Kagome turned back around, finding herself staring at Dampe', who was floating on top of an alter, grinning from ear to ear. "Dampe'." The grip on her sword tightened. Just looking at his cocky expression made her feel irritated. "You won." She admitted defeat and sighed, knowing that even though she wanted to, she couldn't kill him—He was already dead.

"Yes, I did." He gloated. She shorted at his pompous attitude—A light suddenly began to admit from beneath his floating form, and Kagome squinted to try and block out some of the blinding rays. When it dimmed, her eyes widened in surprise, seeing a large chest resting below him. She looked up at him, questioning what was going on. "As promised, here is my treasure…"

"But I lost?" She slowly started walking towards him, a confused look on her face.

"I told you that you didn't have to beat me, remember?" Dampe' laughed in amusement. "The race was fun, and I enjoyed it very much." He hummed. "You survived at least—" He chuckled again. "I believe that your hard work and effort, deserves the greatest treasure I have to offer you."

Kagome felt pride swell within her and she puffed out her chest slightly as she stood before him. She smiled, and placed her sword back in its rightful place by her hip. Her right hand was weak, so she prided the large chest open as best she could with one hand, before shoving her left shoulder up against it harshly. She used her leg strength to push upwards, and with a troubled grunt, she hefted the heavy lid off, and it flipped open with a creek, before slamming down on the opposite side.

She bent down, looking into the large chest. She leaned over far, half of her body almost engulfed inside of the wooden container, her feet lifting off of the ground. She stretched with her right hand, reaching for the object that was laying at the bottom. When her fingers finally wrapped around it, she cried out in victory, and lifted herself out of the chest once more, her feet touching the stone ground.

Yet when she stood there, staring at the object in her right hand, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in question, and glance up at the ghost that was still hovering beside her, as if to say 'What is this?'

"It is a Hookshot." He spoke, reading her mind. "I hope you find it as useful as I did." He hummed. "I would be honored if you would come back to race me again some time." With that, the grinning ghost faded away, leaving Kagome standing there alone to ponder.

"A Hookshot?" She repeated as she tried to look at the new gift she just received. That's all she gets for climbing out of a bottomless pit? Really? What is she supposed to do with this?

She paused when she pressed a button on the grip, and a red laser shot out from the tip, landing directly between her eyes. She tried to look at the dot on her forehead, which caused her eyes to go cross-eyed for a moment and she shook her head.

"Hmm…" She tilted her head in thought as she stared at the gadget for a moment—Something red in the corner of her vision caught her attention and she glanced over—"Shit-!" She cursed when she saw that the bandage on her right bicep was now blotched red, fresh blood seeping from her open wound staining the once beautiful white fabric of her bandage.

She reached up with her left hand, gently touching the tip of her fingers against the wound—She gave a loud hiss when a shock went down her arm and she almost dropped the Hookshot—

"Kagome?" She froze, and turned towards the sound of who was calling her.

"Link!" She exclaimed, happy to see him. "How'd you get here?" She asked as she watched him walk towards her, and up the small alter. She glanced at her right arm in worry, before tugging down on her shirt sleeve, trying to cover up her bandage so he wouldn't see.

"I'm not really sure." He scratched the back of his head and shrugged, finally standing before her. "I was transported here." He brushed the facts away, not really caring about the details, and smiled down at her. "Does that mean you won?"

"Well, I didn't really win…" She raised her right hand, showing him the Hookshot. "But he liked my spirit, and let me have his treasure anyway."

"Doesn't matter who crossed the line first, the fact that you have the treasure means you won, right?" He reached out, patting her head to both comfort and congratulate her.

She smiled softly. She could feel a small amount of heat gathering in her cheeks and she looked down at the Hookshot. "Thanks…"

"So, a Hookshot, huh?" He bent down and examined it closer. "What does it do?" He asked, looking back up at her, curious.

"I'm not sure, to tell you the truth." She looked back down at the Hookshot, and moved it in her hands, looking at it carefully once more. "Before you showed up I had it shooting a beam." She pressed the button once more, and the laser shot out, making the beam stretch to a certain point.

"OooO~" Link seemed rather impressed, his ears twitching in excitement. "Is there any other buttons?"

"No, just this one." She was still pressing it, and it was shining the dot onto the ceiling.

"What if you release it?" He asked.

"What?" She extended her arm straight out, placing her left hand for support in holding it up, her right arm too weak to lift up. She pointed it towards the wall, but was too far away, the dot did not appear on the stone surface. "Like this-?" When she released the button, the pointy metal end shot out like a bullet, a long chain-link trailing behind it. It suddenly stopped short before it reached the wall, unable to extend further, and it fell down limp, landing on the ground with a clank. "Well. That was…" Kagome's voice faded, unsure of what to call it as she continued to stare at the hook as it still laid on the ground. "**Exciting**." Sarcasm was dripping as the Hookshot then recoiled back, resetting and returning back where it was once before.

She looked at the chest beside them, and pointed the Hookshot at it. The dot appeared on the wooden crate, and then she released the button. The hook shot out, then attached to the chest—Suddenly there was a harsh pull. She tried to hang on, but her grip on her right hand was weak and the Hook shot slipped out of her grasp and it slammed into the chest with a crash, before it released and fell onto the floor with a thud. Kagome paused, looking down at her hand in slight shock.

"Are you alright, Kagome?" Link was looking down at her, concern in his bright blue orbs.

She clinched and unclenched her hand a few times, testing it with a far off look in her eyes. "I'm fine." She bent down and picked up the Hookshot. "My palms are just a little sweaty from the race, and it slipped out." She was starting to get better at lying.

"Hookshot, uh?" Link hummed. "These can be your wings—"

"No, it's not." She shook her head, looking down at the Hookshot. "It's too short. It will never reach across the lava pit." She huffed, disappointment eating away at her. "It's **useless**." She shoved the tool into Link's chest and he grunted, catching it just before it fell. "You can have it if you want it."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Take it." She turned away from him with a growl. She risked her life in that race, and her wound has gotten worse—all for nothing…

"Hey, you sure everything is alright?" Link reached out, placing his hand onto her right arm to comfort her—Pain shot through her body and she quickly pulled away from his grasp.

"I'm fine!" Her tone seemed harsher then she wanted it to be, as she kept her back to him, to try and hide her face so he would not see her pained expression. "Let's just get out of here."

Kagome went down the stairs, going towards an open doorway, the only exit that could be seen since the door she came out of during the race was still closed. She tried her best, but it was rather difficult to resist the urge to reach up and hold her throbbing arm, or press her hand against her burning side—

"Hey, wait a minute Kagome." Hearing Link's call, she paused just as she was about to enter, and looked over her shoulder at him. She watched as he walked calmly over to her, the Hookshot she gave him no longer in his hands—it was gone.

Where is he hiding all his stuff?

She pushed the thought aside for later, when Link finally reached her. She wasted no time, walking forward the moment he was beside her, and he kept pace, and we both walked through the doorway at the same time—

A stone slab came down behind us, blocking the doorway. Kagome curse under her breath, while Link jumped in surprise, before looking back at the stone curiously.

"He does that a lot." Kagome huffed in aggravation, then turned around—"Damnit!" She cursed again, seeing the only thing in the room other than themselves was a large blue block. She glanced around, just to make sure.

The room was small, only as big as the doorway was wide, leaving little room for her and Link. We were both brushing against each other's arms, and at that moment Kagome was glad that he was on her left side, and not her right. The room had a large square blue stone in front of them, which took up a good 90 percent of the space in the room, leaving just enough for us stand shoulder to shoulder.

Kagome could feel Link's thigh gently touching hers. She was about to comment about his perverseness again, yet he suddenly shivered. He backed up as best he could away from her, his back pressed up against the left wall. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Your sword is cold." He reached down and rubbed his thigh.

She placed her left hand on her hip and raised both eyebrows towards him in a 'yeah, right' fashion. He shook his head and shrugged, as if replying 'it's the truth'.

"Whatever, pervert." She waved him off as if he were a fly, and turned towards the blue stone. "How are we going to get out of here?" She placed her hand under her chin in thought, trying not to flinch from the pain at her sudden movement in her arm—

A chime sounded nearby and Kagome paused. She glanced around to see where the soft ringing came from. She looked over towards Link, and raised an eyebrow when he suddenly jerked his hat down lower onto his head and he chuckled nervously.

"What was that?" She questioned him.

"What was what?" He continued to hold his hat down, and glanced around suspiciously.

"That pretty bell."

"What did it sound like?" He lowered his hands, placing one on his hip and another under his chin as he hummed.

"Ring-dinding-dinding-ding." She was shaking her hand back and forth, as if she was holding and imagery bell in her hand.

"Oh yeah, I heard it too—wonder what that was?" Kagome narrowed her eyes at him.

He's acting weird again…

* * *

"I was hoping you would tell me." Kagome crossed her arms over her chest, as she continued to stare him down.

"Me?" Link scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously, Kagome's intense glare making him feel like he was just a few inches tall. "Why do you think that _**I **_would know?" All the while he was screaming inside of his skull, cursing a certain blue fairy…

Dang it Navi! Why did she have to go and make that noise for? Now he has to figure out how to trick Kagome into—

"HA!" Kagome reached out and snatched his hat, making Link jump in surprise by the sudden attack.

"No, wait!" He reached out as if to stop her, but it was too late, and she looked inside of his hat.

"…?" She raised an eyebrow, before looking outside of the hat, then back inside of it. Link too, raised an eyebrow at her odd behavior. She reached inside of it, before tipping his hat upside down and shaking it, as if expecting something to fall out of it. "It's empty…" She mumbled under her breath and scratched her head in thought.

Link gave a sigh of relief at her words, and ran his fingers through his now exposed golden locks. He paused when he heard a small 'psst' came from behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder.

He hummed, smiling to himself when he spotted a familiar blue glow hiding behind his shoulders, under his shield. He heard Navi giggling to herself, finding the whole thing amusing and he rolled his eyes at her.

"I thought for sure…" Kagome was looking at the hat in disappointment, talking to herself. "Sorry, Link." She reached his hat back out to him, an apologetic look on her face.

"It's alright." He raised his hand and took his hat, before looking up at her and smiling—His blue orbs widened and he froze when he spotted Navi floating directly behind Kagome's head.

"What's wrong?" Kagome questioned his odd behavior. She then turned her head and glanced over her shoulder—

"No!" He called out, to try and stop her and raised his hand up—Navi flew behind her head, out of sight just as she turned, and Link let loose a huge breath of air he didn't even know he was holding.

He watched as Navi floated over towards the blue stone. Oh no. His eyes grew as big as saucers. She turned into a bright green. Oh no, no no! He shook his head back and forth, waving to try and stop her—

_Ding-ding-ding!_

She let loose a beautiful chime as she bounced up and down to catch his attention.

"There it is again!" Kagome suddenly turned her head back around so fast, Link was surprised she didn't break her neck. He quickly reached out and scooped Navi up into his hat, keeping it closed within his clinched fist.

"Yeah I heard it too." He could feel Navi banging around in his hat, pulling and tugging to try and get free, yet he just held on to his hat even tighter. "It was strange."

"Yeah…" She narrowed her eyes and glanced around, hoping to find what it was that was making that nose.

Link sighed, and placed his hat back onto his head—

"Oww!" He reached up and rubbed his sore scalp, Navi being oh-so kind enough to pull several strands of his hair out from his roots.

"_I was just trying to help! You didn't have to be so rude!"_ Navi lifted his hat just enough so she could peak her head out from the edge and give a hushed shout at his ear.

"What if Kagome saw you?" He glanced up and to the side, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see her.

"_What if she did? I don't see why you want me to hide from her anyway—" _

"You know why." He turned around, crossing his arms over his chest and facing one of the walls to give himself some sort of privacy in the small cramped room. "So, what was you wanting to tell me?"

"_Doesn't the symbol on that blue block look familiar?" _

"The symbol…?"

"Link?" Kagome's sudden voice made him jump in surprise and he turned around. "I didn't want to interrupt you, but you're talking to yourself again…"

"I wasn't talking to myself." He stated as he looked down at her.

"Oh? Then who were you talking to?" She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Umm…" He reached up and scratched the back of his head. "I mumble when I'm thinking."

"Well, you better have been thinking of a way out, because we are stuck here if we don't come up with something…" She sighed and turned away from him, towards the blue block.

"Hmmm…" He walked up to the block. He raised his hand, trailing his exposed fingers across the symbol of a sun engraved on its surface. "It _does_ look kind of familiar…"

"You talking to yourself again?" Kagome huffed, crossing her arms over her chest once more, with an amused look on her face as she watched him.

"I told you—" He reached behind him, pulling out the Ocarina that Princess Zelda gave him. "I don't talk to myself."

"Hey." She lowered her arms, and tilted her head at him, curious. He placed the ocarina to his lips. "What's that—"

He began playing the ocarina, the soft melody that came out of the interment filled the room. The song of time…

When he was done, the blue stone began to glow, before it was teleported up and out of the room, exposing the exit that it was blocking just moments before.

He lowered the ocarina from his lips, and looked down at Kagome. He almost chuckled in amusement from the look she was giving him.

"What the hell was that?" She motioned towards where the block was standing just a few seconds ago. "What did you just do?" Link put his interment back with his other belongings, and turned towards her.

"I have an ocarina that has magical powers when I play certain songs on it." He stated, giving a shrug as if it were no big deal.

"Oh, that explains everything then." She shrugged her shoulders in a similar fashion as he did. "A perverted elf with a magical flute who talks to himself—What have I gotten myself into?" She shook her head, and started walking up the small set of stairs that was before them.

"Hey!" Link huffed. "First off, it's an _Ocarina_, not a** flute**—And I told you before- I don't talk to myself!" He quickly followed after her, yet he could easily hear her amused laughter as she continued walking ahead of him.

Why does she keep calling him a perverted elf?

* * *

Kagome continued walking up the stairs, until a blinding light shone through the doorway and she had to shield her eyes from the rays by raising here arm up—She bit her lower lip as she tried to hold back a groan of pain from moving her right arm. She stepped into the light, and then stopped, allowing herself to adjust to the brightness.

They were inside of a very large circler room. She was standing on a ledge, that was one of many placed around the edge of the room, so she could easily oversee everything that was going on. In the middle of the room was a wooden pillar that continued to spin at a rather natural pace.

"We are inside of the Windmill, in Kakariko Village." Link spoke up, as he stood behind her.

"Oh." Kagome looked back down at the spinning platform below her. It just keeps going around and around and around…

As Kagome stood there, hypnotized, Link hummed to himself and walked past her. He wasted no time, and just jumped off the ledge, landing with a solid thump on the spinning wooden platform. She glanced down at where he landed, watching him stand up straight, and the spinning pillar slowly taking him around to the other side of the room. Link then placed one of his hands on his hip.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked, a puzzled look on his face when he finally came back around and Kagome could see him.

"You're kidding me right?" There's no other way to get down? She glanced around the room, trying to see if there was a ladder nearby or something—

"Don't tell me you're afraid." He teased.

"What?" Kagome sent a heated glare at him, and he chuckled in amusement.

"Don't worry!" He was yelling slightly, for he was almost on the other side once more. "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad he says…" She mumbled under her breath as she glared at his back.

"Here!" He was now coming back around, and he raised his arms in the air. "I'll catch you." When he finally reached her, she could see he had a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, right." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"No, really, I'm serious." He motioned with his still outstretched hands for her to come to him. "I promise I won't let you fall."

"I don't need you to catch me." She was stubborn, and waited till he was halfway past her, before finally jumping. She landed with a lot more grace then she thought she would, her fall being a shorter distance then she first believed. She looked over at Link with a stratified smirk, putting her hand on her hip and puffing her chest out as she stood up. "HA—Whoa~!" She wobbled slightly, the movement under her feet causing her to become unbalanced.

The ground below her looked as if it was coming closer, and she stretched one of her hands out, as if to grab a hold of something, while the other was placed onto her forehead. Her vision was filled with black dots and she felt extremely dizzy. She took a step back, to try and steady herself, but she stumbled and her knees suddenly buckled beneath her—

"Whoa there." A strong arm wrapped around her, holding her up. "I got you."

"Link?" She groaned, her right hand immediately reaching out to his arm, and placing her hand on his bicep.

She still had her hand against her forehead, but she lowered it down so that it covered half of her face, and she opened one of her eyes. She found herself staring into the concerned eyes of crystal blue, and she could feel her cheeks suddenly become hotter, his face mere inches from hers.

"You alright?" His left arm, which was wrapped around her waist and holding her up, tightened, and he pulled her body up against his.

"I'm fine." She tried to play it off as no big deal, and removed her hand from her face, placing it onto his chest instead.

"You sure?" He raised his right hand, placing it onto her left shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm just not use to the floor moving is all…"

"I told you I wouldn't let you fall." He smiled down at her, feeling proud of himself. His hand that was placed on her side tightened. She tried to hold back a hiss, and her right hand, which was on still on his bicep, was holding a good amount of his green fabric between her clinched fist. His hand almost too close for comfort, and resting dangerously near to the wound on her rib. "Hey…" His voice was filled with worry as he lowered his face closer to hers. "You sure you're alright?" He paused. "You look pale…" His right hand moved from her shoulder, up to her cheek, touching it gently. "You feel cold."

Kagome closed her eyes, the warmth of his hand against her cheek felt so good, she couldn't help but lean into his touch. A chill was in her body, and she didn't realize how cold she was until now, the warmth of his body pressed up to her felt nice. It was in her mind just to lean against him, place her head on his chest, and fall asleep right there…

"Kagome?" Link's hand that was on her side raised up, touching her lower ribs. She shivered at the caress, and then his hand went higher-

Pain shot through her and she snapped her eyes open, instinctively shoving him away from her. He had a confused look on his face as he stumbled back from her sudden change. Immediately the heat she was receiving from his body left her, and she wrapped her arms around herself to try and warm herself back up. She looked down sadly, wanting to just curl up into a ball and go to sleep.

She felt tired…

"Don't touch me." She turned and went towards the door, leaving. She stumbled slightly, but once she was off of the rotating platform, she didn't feel off balanced, and she easily enough left without any trouble, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

Leaving Link alone in the Windmill, standing there with a confused and slightly guilty look etched onto his face.

* * *

Link was walking through Kakariko Village, looking for Kagome. He felt confused, worried, and guilty all rolled into one—Mostly confused though. He was worried about Kagome, and where she was, and guilty for the fact that he was the one that caused her to leave.

"_You're not very good at this, are you Link?" _A small blue fairy flew out of its hiding spot in his hat, and was floating above his shoulder.

"Good at what?" He turned the corner, and looked around the spider's house, to see if she was there, yet his shoulder deflated slightly when he did not see her. Maybe she's at Auju's? He then turned left, going up the stairs to her house.

"_Women."_ Navi's comment made him stumble slightly and he turned his head to glare at the blue glowing fairy beside him. _"What? It's true!" _She seemed amused by this, giving off a ringing sound as she bounced up and down. _"You've never talked with a woman before." _

"Sarah." He huffed, finally reaching the top of the steps and walking towards the door. "Malon, and..."He paused, and raised his hand. Sarah—He extended one of his fingers. Malon—He extended a second one, counting. And— He tried to rack his brain and think of all the women he has ever talked to. "Ruto?" He extended his third finger. Who else? He questioned himself- "Princess Zelda!" He raised his forth finger and turned towards the blue fairy, smirking.

"_OoooOo four girls~!" _She was obviously being sarcastic._ "You were a kid—__**THEY **__were kids!" _

"So?"

"_They were not women~"_ She shook her finger at him, floating merely inches from his nose. Her other hand was placed on her hip.

"It's the same thing, isn't it?"

"_No, it's completely different!" _

"How is it different?" He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at her.

"_Uggh!"_ She slapped her palm against her forehead and groaned_. "Women are… you know."_ She extended her hands out at him and looked at him as if the answer was obvious.

"No…?" He shook his head. What was she trying to get at?

"_You know!"_ She started to wave her hands in and out, making curvy shapes. He scratched the back of his head, a confused look on his face. What in the world is she talking about? _"You __**know**__!"_

Link placed his hands under his chin, and tried to think. How is Kagome different then all the other girls he met when he was a child…?

"They're moody?"

"_No."_ She shook her head. _"Well…"_ She paused. _"They can be sometimes, but that's not what I'm talking about."_

"They're stubborn?"

"_No."_

"They don't listen?"

"_No!" _Navi growled, stomping her foot in the air and huffing. _"UgghH!"_ She seemed rather frustrated for some reason and she rolled her eyes, shaking her head._ "I'm talking to a ten year old."_ She mumbled to herself. _"I'm sure even your thick skull will figure it out later…" _She then dived back under his hat and Link was left standing there, feeling even more confused than before.

Link shook his head and shrugged. He glanced up and his eyes widened. "Kagome." He saw her sitting underneath the tree that was placed in the middle of town. Navi was blocking his view before, but now he could see her leaning against the tree, sitting quietly.

He wasted no time and walked back down the stairs, going towards her.

* * *

As Link was walking towards Kagome, he tried to think of what to say to her once he reached her. He tried his best, but he kept drawing a complete blank. Well, not a complete blank. His mind was filled with the last image of him and Kagome. The saddened look in her eyes as she hugged herself, telling him not to touch her—Him, confused, and even though he didn't know what he did wrong, he felt extremely guilty about it…

He jumped down the high ledge, landing with a hard thud as his leather boots hit the grassy ground. He stood up, and continued walking towards the tree, which was just a few steps away.

When he finally reached the tree, he still didn't have a single clue on what say to her...

Maybe he should turn back before she sees him?

Kagome was sitting at the base of the tree, her legs raised up, and her arms crossed over top of her knees. Her forehead was resting on her arms, and her hair was fanned out around her, so he could not see her face. He could not hear her weeping, but it seemed like a well-known crying position when one was alone…

A painful stab hit him in the chest, and he sighed, scratching the back of his head. After seeing her, he knew he couldn't just leave her sitting there by herself. He took a deep breath, before sitting down beside her at the base of the tree, pressing his back against the bark. She didn't even bother to acknowledge or look at him when he sat down. He raised one legs up, and rested his arm on top of his knee as he looked up into the sky.

There was tense silence between us as we both sat beneath the tree, neither one speaking a word. Link began wondering if Kagome was still angry with him. Is that why she hasn't talked to him yet? Her stillness began to make him nervous, so he decided to be the first one to speak.

"I'm sorry." The first thing that came out of his mouth was an apology. He figured the best way to make things better between him and Kagome was just to admit it was his fault and apologize. Though he wasn't sure what he was apologizing for…

"Hmm." She gave a soft hum.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable in anyway." He shifted in his spot, looking down, away from the stars. "I feel terrible about it and umm…" He reached up and scratched the back of his head. "I was hoping you was going to come with me—" He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling nervous. "I mean, I know you're busy, and I know your probably still mad at me, but I was wondering if you would like to stay with me for a while longer—"

"No…" She barely whispered the word, but his ears gave a small twitch, easily picking up the hushed sound.

"No?" He looked down at her, feeling slightly hurt by her reply. "I-I understand." He rubbed his arm sheepishly and looked down at the ground. "I mean, you're too busy with your own problems to go with me. I was just wondering, because I enjoyed what little time we spent toget—"

"…No."

"Hmm?" Link glanced back over at Kagome. "You mean you didn't enjoy it—"

"No." Her mumble became clearer.

"Kagome?" He raised an eyebrow. "What are—"

"No!" Her hands balled into a tight fist, and her whole body went stiff. Link looked at her with slight concern and he reached out.

"Kagome?" He placed his hand onto her shoulder, yet she didn't move. "Kagome?" He gave her a slight shake—She gave a sharp gasp, and shot up, making him pull back his hand in surprise. She glanced around; her green eyes large and trembling, reminding him of frightened prey, as if expecting something to reach out grab her. Her breathing was labored, and when she finally noticed him she gave a small huff.

"Must have dozed off…" She mumbled, running her fingers through her hair. Link sighed, feeling a large drop of sweat rolling down the side of his face and feeling extremely awkward.

"Are you alright?" True concern over took him as he looked at her. "You're still pale…" He reached out—

"Don't touch me." She swatted his hand away before he could reach her.

"Alright, alright." He raised both his hands up, as if surrendering. "Sorry. Don't be angry. I was just seeing if you were okay."

"I keep telling you I'm fine." She rolled her eyes as if it was no big deal. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Well, I was looking for you of course—"

"Why?" She seemed rather defensive and raised an eyebrow at him, suspicious.

"You were really upset when you left the Windmill, and I was worried, so I wanted to look for you and talk."

"You don't want to talk to me." She turned away from him. Link could just raise an eyebrow at her, confused by her sudden hostility and distrust. "You never want to just talk—" As she was looking at the ground, her eyes fogged over and a pained expression appeared on her face. "You just want something from me, is all. So get it over with and just tell me what it is that you want."

"You're right." Link sighed, shrugging. "I was wanting something." Acting as if he was caught red-handed. "I can't fool you."

"I knew it…" Her voice went extremely soft, sadness drowning in each word as her body looked like it was sinking lower and lower—

"I was wondering if you would join me." He shrugged, and then stretched.

"Join you?" She repeated. "Join you what?"

"Well, to find a nice pair of wings, of course." He placed his hands behind his head and looked up at the stars.

"Wait…" She looked at him, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "So—you want to help me?" She then narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"

"I'm just a nice person?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, and flashed her a sly grin. When she gave him a look of 'yeah, right' he chuckled. "Let's just say I have my own reasons."

"What? You need a pair of wings too?" She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. He shook his head and shrugged. He stood up with a groan, then looked down at her and smiled.

"You can say that."

"You have to kill Ganondick too?"

He chuckled, and extended his hand out for her to take, so he could help her up. "Maybe."

"Maybe~" She mocked, and gave an unladylike snort through her nose. She slapped away his offered hand, and stood up on her own.

He sighed, wondering why she always refuses his help…

"So." He placed his hand onto his hip as he looked down at her. "Would you like to stay with me a little bit longer?" He asked again. She gave a bored shrugged, and then a sly smirk appeared on her face.

"Maybe."

* * *

_**Note:**_ Man! Whoa, that took a lot longer than expected. I was writing this and I got to this point, and I was like 'why is it taking me so long for this one chapter?' I looked down and I saw that if I continued, I probably was going to break my personal record of longest chapter written. (Beelzebub/Inu bout 30K words, 70 pages)

So I decided to cut this one chapter in half, instead of 'Hookshot and Epona' I am just going to make this 'the Hookshot' chapter, and the next one will be 'Epona' and then off to the forest temple. So by the end of this it will be 10 chapters, not 9 like my original story lol.

The reason I even posted the Hookshot and Epona in one chapter in the original was because I believed they both would be too short for a single chapter—look at it now—LOL! XD I'm an expert at detail and added random stuff to extend stories. I deserve a metal… or at least a cookie… anyone? *Glances around and is patiently awaiting a cookie*


	4. Lon Lon Ranch and Epona

Unbeta-ed

**Story**

"So, where were you planning on going anyway?" Kagome asked as she stood there in the mist of the small village, underneath the only tree in town. There were no real leads on what to do or where to go next, but she had a feeling that Link knew something that he was not telling her…

"I was thinking that we could go—"

"Hold on." Kagome interrupted him. "We?" She hummed, placing one of her hands on her hip. "I didn't say I was coming with you yet."

"But you said—"

"I said 'maybe' that's not a yes."

"Well then, I was thinking that **I** should go and get a horse." Link then turned and started walking away from her. "By myself, as it would seem."

"A horse?" Kagome repeated, blinking in confusion. "Why are you going to get a horse?"

"Because walking sucks." He answered her question without turning around and continued his way out of the village. Kagome smiled, amused by his reply. As she watched his retreating back her smile faded a little and sighed, looking down at herself.

She reached up and gently touched her rib over her shirt, wincing slightly. She looked back over at Link, whose body was now becoming smaller and smaller, as he started to descend down the stairs.

"Hey!" She huffed, and started lightly jogging to catch up with him. "Wait for me!" When she finally caught up with him, he spoke, glancing at her over his shoulder.

"You decide you wanted to join me?"

She gave a small shrug. "Maybe…"

Her answer caused him to chuckle, and he shook his head, as they both went down the stairs together.

Descending the stairs was more than a little painful to Kagome. In fact, it was downright excruciating. With each step she took down on her left foot, the vibration would move up her leg and send a shock in her side, making her flinch. She raised her hand, hovering it just above her wound, wanting to touch it, put pressure on it, anything, but she knew it would just make things worse. She was forced to lower her arm back down to her side and just accept the ache and shocks each step was for her as she went down the stairs, following Link.

When they finally reached the bottom, she gave a huge sigh of relief, yet the pain still lingered, but only as small pulsating stabs every now and then. It still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as before, so she could handle it for now, until it got better.

"Where are you going to get a horse?" Kagome asked curiously, breaking the silence just as they were crossing the bridge.

"Lon Lon Ranch." Link answered.

"That fortress!" She exclaimed.

"Fortress?" Link repeated, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at her over his shoulder. "It's just a ranch, not a fortress."

"Oh?" She huffed. "Then why is there a 50 foot tall wooden spiked fence placed around it?"

"Well…" Link began explaining, as he turned his head back around so he could watch where he was walking. "It is to keep the horses from jumping over the wall."

Kagome snorted at his comment. "They don't need to have a 50 foot tall wall to stop the horse from escaping, don't you think that's a little overboard?"

"First off, it's 20 feet, at most, not 50—Oww!" He suddenly shouted in pain. "Would you stop doing that! It hurts!" He glanced over his shoulder and scratched his head.

"I'm not even touching you." Though the thought of smacking him in the head did cross her mind more than once.

"It's not that." Link growled. "I just keep getting bit by a very annoying _**bug**_—ouch!" He grumbled to himself as he continued scratching his sore scalp.

"Maybe you got fleas?" She smirked, crossing her arms over her chest with a smug grin on her face.

"Oh, Ha-ha." He laughed mockingly, not finding her comment to be as amusing as she did.

* * *

"So this is Lon Lon Ranch?" Kagome questioned, her breath slightly labored as she reached up and placed her hand to her burning side, below her wound.

That walk took more of her strength then she thought. Good thing Link is getting a horse, Kagome wasn't sure if she could walk a very long distance in the shape she is in at the moment.

"Yeah." Link stood there for a moment, glancing around with his hands placed onto his hips as he nodded. "It hasn't changed much in seven years…"

"You haven't been here in seven years?" She raised an eyebrow at the blond-haired male standing before her.

"Doesn't seem that long though." He turned to the left, where a house was standing, and gave the door a soft knock.

As Kagome stood behind Link, she watched as he knocked a second time, before just reaching to the doorknob and opening the door, letting himself in—

"Hey." Kagome raised an eyebrow at his actions, questioning him. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He paused, looking at her over his shoulder, his hand still on the doorknob, the door wide open with his foot already inside the building.

"Breaking and entering?"

"What's that?" He asked, curious.

"You don't know what breaking and entering is?" She gave him an odd look and he just shrugged his shoulders. "So what—You always just open the door and walk right into people's houses without permission?"

Link had his eyes looking upward, deep in thought, thinking to himself as he tried to remember. After a few seconds he finally came to a conclusion and nodded his head. "Pretty much, yeah…"

"No one has ever said anything?"

"No." He shook his head. "It's normal for me."

"Because you are a pervert."

"Hey, I knocked." He rolled his eyes at her, before stepping inside. He turned around and gave her a look of 'you coming?' holding the door open for her.

"No thanks." She held up her hand and shook her head. "I will stay outside, and try _**not**_ get myself in trouble with the police."

"Poll-leace?" Link repeated as if he had never heard of the foreign word before. Kagome paused—Don't tell me that there are no police in this world—Link just shrugged, before slowly closing the door, but right before it clicked shut, Kagome could hear him whisper to himself "What is a poll-leace?"

Oh dear god— Kagome groaned, placing her hand on her forehead and shaking her head back and forth. She was in trouble…

* * *

While Link was breaking the law, Kagome stood outside, taking a good look at the area. The ranch was large and a lot less intimidating on the inside, then how it looked on the outside. By the time Link and her got to the ranch, the sun had returned, coming over the horizon, and brought much sunlight into the grassy area.

From where she stood in front of the door, there was some kind of stable across from the house, and down the narrow pathway was an open corral. Every now and then Kagome could hear several neighs, and see flashes of brown running by the edge of the fence, which she could barely see from the spot she was standing—

"Oh!" There was a surprised gasp, snapping Kagome out of her thoughts and she looked over at the noise. "Hello there." Kagome saw a young woman standing before her. The lady finished closing the door to the stable, a metal milk pail hanging from her hands. The orange haired elf woman took the several steps needed to reach her, and she flashed her a kind smile. "Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch." She greeted. "Can I help you?"

"Well, umm…" Kagome reached up and scratched the back of her head nervously. "I'm here with an idiot friend of mine."

"A friend?" The woman continued walking with a thoughtful look on her face, before standing directly in front of her. "Excuse me."

"Uh?" Kagome paused, before she realized that she was blocking her way into the house—"Sorry." She quickly apologized and moved out of her way.

"Thank you." She nodded to her in thanks, before going over to the door. "What are you and your friend doing here?" She asked, curious, as she reached down and turned the knob, opening the door—

"Wait!" Link's still in there! If she sees him-!

"Uh?" The woman froze after opening the door, turning her head to look at her with a questioning glance. "Is something— Ah!" She gave a small shout in surprise when she suddenly collided with something, the poor girl dropping her milk pail.

"I'm sorry." A familiar deep voice entered Kagome's ears, and she could only shake her head at the clumsy elf as he bent down and picked up the lady's pail, apologizing. Good thing it was empty, or there really would have been a mess—"Malon?" Link paused from his crouched position, looking up at the girl curiously with his blue orbs.

"Yes?" The girl paused as well, both of them touching the metal bucket at the same time as they looked at each other. Link in his crouched position, looking up at her, and her bending down slightly, both eyes locked onto one another's.

"Wow." Link's ears gave a small twitch, a dash of pink going over his nose. "You sure grew up to be a beautiful woman." The words just fell out of his mouth before his brain could catch up with his flapping lips. Kagome shook her head, smacking her palm against her forehead.

"Umm…" Malon's cheeks turned a deep scarlet. "Do I know you?" Kagome tried not to laugh at her comment, placing her hand onto her mouth to still the giggles.

"You probably don't remember me." Link stood back up, and scratched the back of his head, after Malon took the pail out of his hand. "We were only kids—"

"Fairy boy!" Malon suddenly exclaimed and Link flinched. Fairy boy?

"Yeah…" He sighed, but shook his head.

"I thought that was you!" She flashed him a bright smile, swayed back and forth with the pail dangling from her hands. Kagome watched as the trim of her dress lifted slightly from her small movements. "It has been long time, hasn't it?" She hummed. "How have you been?"

"Alright I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "You?"

Malon paused, her mood changed as she looked down at the ground with worry and sighed. "It could be better, I guess…"

"What's wrong?" Link lowered his hand from his neck, and tilted his head a little, so that he could look at her downcast face better.

"I don't want to bother you with my problems."

"Hey." Link placed his large hand on top of her shoulder reassuringly. "What are friends for?" When she looked up at him, he gave her a soft smile and she nodded her head, smiling at his kindness.

"Well, the ranch isn't such a happy and joyful place like it once was when we were kids." Malon confessed, as she raised her head and looked up at him. She saw his questioning look and she sighed. "My father was kicked out, and ever since, things have just been getting worse."

"Talon was kicked off his own ranch?" Link's eyebrows angled together in thought, as he looked at her.

"Yes." Malon nodded. "It's no longer my father's ranch." Her grip on the pail's handle tightened as she thought back. "Mr. In-Ingo controls the ranch now." She stuttered a little. "After Ganondorf gave it to him, he kicked my father out." She nibbled on her lower lip nervously. "I'm really worried about my father, he is a terrible cook and I would always have to look after him—" She smiled to herself, as if she just thought of something. "Though I know I shouldn't… he's probably just asleep somewhere."

"Can't you go look for him?" Link asked her.

"No." She shook her head. "Ingo forbids me from leaving the ranch." Tears started to swell in her eyes. "He wants me to be here with him and work, and if I disobey him, he will mistreat the horses."

"Ingo, uh?" Link's hands were balled into fists by his side, his eyes flaring with rage. He turned his head, looking towards the corral. "Looks like I'll have to teach him some manners—"

"Wait!" Malon reached out and grabbed him by the bicep, stopping him. "Please don't hurt him!" She pleaded with Link, and the blond could only raise an eyebrow at her.

"But look what he did to you, Malon—" She just shook her head at him.

"Please don't." She begged again. "Ingo is a good man at heart, I know it." She told him. "I really don't know why he is acting this way, but this isn't how he used to be, there is good in him, I know it—So please? Please, Fairy boy…"

Link sighed, his tense body deflating when he stared into her large brown orbs. "Alright then, I won't hurt him." Malon sighed, releasing her hold on his arm and smiled kindly at him.

"Thank you…"

"But_** I**_ can still beat him up though, right?" Both Malon and Link looked over towards her and she hummed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, Kagome." Link exclaimed. "Malon, this is Kagome." He motioned over towards her. "Kagome, this is Malon."

"Nice to meet you." Kagome gave her a deep bow in respect. In her bowed state, she missed the odd look Malon was showing towards her greeting. The orange haired elf looked over at Link and he just shrugged, unsure himself.

"Nice to meet you too, Kagome." When she stood back up, Malon gave a polite nod of her head in return, smiling. "So the idiot friend you were talking about earlier-?" She questioned, looking over at Link.

"Yeah, I meant this idiot." She motioned towards him with her thumb, and when she heard a small 'hey' in persist coming from the idiot, she smirked.

"I have been wondering, why have you and Link come here? Is there a reason?" Malon was sure that they didn't just come to help her and her father get their ranch back.

"Well, Link needs a horse." Kagome confessed with a shrug as if it were no big deal.

"A horse?" Malon looked over at Link and he laughed nervously. "What would you need a horse for?" She asked, curious. "I wouldn't be allowed just anyone, even though it is you Link, to take one of our horses, if it's not for a good reason."

"Umm." Link was struggling as he scratched the back of his head and tried to think. "You see I—"

"It's for a quest." Kagome suddenly leaned over, pointing her finger in the air as she got in front of Malon's view.

"A quest?" Malon repeated. She looked down, as if in thought.

" ' **A quest'** really Kagome, that's what you came up with?" Link bent down and whispered into her ear. Kagome just shrugged.

"Hey, it worked for me before."

"Well…" Malon finally spoke and we both looked over at her, to see her reaction. "If it's for a quest, I don't see why not."

"Ha!" Kagome playfully jabbed him in the side and Link grunted. She smirked up at him, feeling victorious.

"If you can help me and the ranch, I will let you take Epona on this quest of yours." Malon told them.

"Epona? Really?" This seemed to surprise Link, before he hummed, smiling.

"She hasn't gotten to see much of the world, and I think it will be good for her. I believe she will be in capable hands, if she is with you." Malon smiled, rocking back and forth. "She likes you after all…"

"So all I got to do is beat the crap out of this Ingo guy, right?" Seems easy enough. That horse is as good as ours.

"Kagome…?" Kagome glanced back over at the pretty elf woman when she heard her call her name. "You really won't hurt Ingo, will you?"

"Guys like that deserve a least a few good hits—" Seeing the sad look in Malon's eyes, Kagome sighed. "Just one?" Kagome raised her pointer finger. "I mean one good hit isn't all that…" Yet Kagome's words faded when she saw Malon shook her head, disagreeing. At that point Kagome knew that no amount of talking would allow the country girl to agree to harm the evil dick head of a boss.

"Will you promise not to harm him, Kagome?" Malon was looking at her with large pleading eyes.

"Damnit…" Kagome cursed under her breath, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"Thank you." Malon took that as an agreement, smiling brightly at her.

"How are we going to teach him a lesson, if we don't beat him half to death?" Kagome asked, curious.

"Well, I know Ingo enjoys gambling, and will take any kind of bet." Malon informed them, wishing to help them out.

"Gambling? How is that going to help us?" The only human in the whole group sighed, unsure.

"Hmmm…" Link placed his hand under his chin in thought. "Kagome, come on." He then turned and began walking in the direction of the corral. "I have an idea."

"Another idea? That's your second one today." Kagome teased him, quickly jogging up to him to catch up. "Try not to strain yourself."

"Are you always this mean to people?" Link glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"Only to the ones I like."

"Wouldn't want to see what you do to people you hate…" Link paused for a moment, then suddenly looked over at her with a surprised expression. "You like me?"

"Whoa~ Hold up there Legolas. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves."

"Admit it." He smirked down at her. "It was my rugged charm after all."

"Great charmer you are." Kagome huffed. "Wow, Malon, you sure did grow up to be mighty _**purdy**_." She laid down a heavy southern accent, and Link's cheeks held a dash of pink. Kagome laughed, smacking him jokingly on the back. "You look cute when you blush." Link's face became darker, which only fueled Kagome's laughter. "Oh~ You're getting redder!"

It was quiet for several moments as they walked up to the gate, but then she heard the blond haired elf speak. "You know…" Link bent down so that he was closer to her face, expressing a sly grin. "You look cute when you blush too." He's words made heat instantly rush into her cheeks and she huffed. Taking her hand, she placed it on his face, and shoved it away from her as she turned her head.

"Shut up."

* * *

Kagome and Link walked up to a man, who was standing in front of the closed gate to the corral. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the man, almost wanting to laugh, for his mustache and eyebrows were crooked on his face, and when he saw her, said furry appendages began to wiggle up and down in interest.

"Ingo." Link walked up to the man, Kagome standing beside him.

"Yes?" The man looked away from her, and at Link. "Is there something I can help you with?" Even though his head was facing Link's direction, Kagome saw that his eyes turned back so that they were looking at her again, staring.

"I need a horse." Link told him.

"A horse!" This caught his complete attention, and he looked fully at Link. "Well then, you've come to the right place." He hummed. "If you want one of my fine horses, it will be 10,000 rupees."

"10,000!" Judging by Link's reaction, it was a lot of money…

"If you can't afford it, boy, then maybe you should get a job." Was Ingo's reply.

"But it's for a quest." Kagome took a step forward, and Ingo looked back in her direction.

"Hmm." His mustache gave a small wiggle as he thought. "If it's for a quest, then I guess I could lower the price down to 1,000 rupees."

Wow, that was a big drop…

Kagome glanced over at Link, but judging by his expression, the price was still too much for the poor elf.

"Thank you for the discount, but 1,000 is still out of our range—" Kagome began to stay, but then Ingo interrupted.

"What are you doing here, if you can't even afford 1,000 rupees! What were you thinking? You can just walk in here and get a horse for free!"

"You sure there isn't anything we can do to change your mind?" Kagome looked at him pleadingly, and Ingo paused for a moment, thinking once again.

"Hmmm" He placed his hand under his chin, a sly grin going across his face and he stared at her. "I might be willing to trade you a horse, with something of equal value."

"A trade?" Link repeated. "What kind of trade?"

"A human…" His words caused her eyes to widen slightly. "Is a rare sight around here—" Kagome's growl interrupted him as she pointed her finger at him.

"Don't even think about it buddy—"

"Maybe if you throw in an extra 5,000 rupees." Link hummed, actually considering it.

"LINK!" Kagome huffed, turning her head to glare at him.

"I'm just joking Kagome." Link chuckled. "I'm sorry, but my companion is not for sale." Seeing Ingo had a gleam in his eyes, as he was still staring at Kagome, Link reached out, placing his arm in front of her, and pushing her back behind him. "Not ever."

"That's too bad." Ingo hummed, his eyebrows and mustache wiggling.

"If he doesn't stop staring at me…" Kagome mumbled as she hid further behind Link's body, not liking the look he was giving her. "I'm going to punch him so hard, his mustache will go straight."

Link chuckled, finding her comment to be amusing. "How about a bet?"

"A wager?" This peaked Ingo interest and he looked back over at Link.

"You and me." Link pointed at Ingo, then at himself. "A race." He hummed. "I win, I get to keep the horse."

"And if I win?" Ingo chuckled, looking back over at her with a gleam in his eyes.

"You can't have Kagome." He glared down at Ingo, his words holding a little anger in them.

"If you got nothing to bet with, there will be no race." Ingo laughed. "That's how a wager works. I bet something you want, and you bet something I want." He hummed. "And I want **her**." He pointed at Kagome and she felt a shiver go down her spine with the grin he was flashing in her direction.

"He accepts!" Kagome shouted from her position behind Link, and the elf froze at her words.

"Kagome!" He glanced at her over his shoulder, giving her a questioning look.

"Just don't lose, alright?" She huffed. "Or I'll kill you after the race."

He rolled his eyes at her, but smiled, confident. "I won't."

"Alright then." Ingo smirked. "Let's race boy!"

* * *

"I lost! That can't be!" Ingo yelled.

"Good job." Kagome smile at Link, as he trotted over to her.

"I told you I wouldn't lose." A confident smirk was on his face.

"She is beautiful." Reaching out, Kagome lightly stroked the horse's muzzle, and the mare neighed softly.

"She's all ours now." Link hummed.

"IS THAT EPONA?!" A surprised shout came from the side, and Kagome looked over to see Ingo clenching his head and he thrashed back and forth in rage. "I was raising that horse for Ganondorf. Now I lost that horse to a boy!" Ingo suddenly stopped screaming and became calm. "I will give you that horse." Kagome looked up at Ingo, just in time to see him shut and lock the ranch gate. "But, you will never leave this ranch!" He had that same smug grin on his face.

"That no-good lying snake…" Kagome growled, reaching for the sword by her side—Suddenly Link swiveled Epona around, getting between her and Ingo, who was still standing behind the locked gate.

"Don't, we promised not to hurt him, remember?"

"But he lost the race! Epona is ours! He can't just—" Kagome paused when she saw Link smiling at her, and reached his hand down for her to take.

"Ride with me." His smile grew. "I have an idea."

"This is your third one today…" She smirked, placing her hand on top of his.

"A new record." He joked, and easily pulled her up into the saddle behind him.

"Your brain is working overtime." She teased, as she wiggled in her spot, getting comfortable. "If you don't watch, you might hurt yourself—" Link suddenly tapped Epona's side, prompting her to move forward, and Kagome gave a small shout by the sudden movement.

"You should probably put your arms around me." He suggested, as he glanced at her over his shoulder, smirking. "So you won't fall off."

"No way pervert." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "There is no way I would—" She paused. "You know you're heading for a wall, right?"

"Yeah." Link nodded. "That was my idea."

"That's it. Two is your limit, and you've now gone brain dead." Kagome glared at his back, and Link chuckled.

"Don't worry, it will work." Link shrugged. "I think."

As Kagome watched the huge wall come closer and closer, her eyes grew in size. When they were just a few feet away, she braced for impact, wrapping her arms around Link's body. The wound on her arm throbbed with the death grip she had on his shirt, and she clamped her eyes shunt, grunting.

She sudden felt weightless, her hair floating around her, and she knew that Epona jumped. She was cursing under her breath, too terrified to even open her eyes. A gust of wind was blowing around them, and she knew they were falling—

Epona landed with a thud, their bodies moving forward from the impact, and the hard vibration of the landing shook them. A sharp pain went through her whole body and she let out a scream of pain, tears forming in her eyes as her side felt like it got ripped open, and her arm was torn off.

"Kagome?" She felt Link's touch on her hand that was still on his chest, gripping his tunic like a lifeline. "You alright?" He shifted in his spot, trying to look at her over his shoulder.

"I'm fine." She grunted out, her hold on his tunic tightening until her finger grew numb, biting her lower lip to stop herself from screaming again. "Just…" She released a ragged breath, trying to push away the pain that was now spreading through her chest and arm. "Got the wind—" She inhaled shakily. "Knocked out of me." She lied.

She pried her hands open, gone stiff from the tight hold, and slowly unwrapped her arms from around him. When she leaned back, she looked up and found herself staring into crystal blue.

"You don't look so good…" He frowned a little. "You look pale and sick." His eyebrows angled together as he looked at her with concern.

"I said I was okay." She reached up, and brushed away the sweat that was gathering on her forehead with her arm, glaring up at him best she could, while her head felt like it was spinning—Dots started to form in her vision and she growled. "I think I know my body better then you do, elf." She hissed the words, trying to get him to leave her alone.

"If you say so…" Yet the worried look never left him, as he turned his head back around. "I'll leave you alone." Link then tapped his heels against Epona's sides, and she began moving forward once more.

Her arm and sided started to go cold, and she released another shaky breathe. Since his back was now turned, Kagome reaching up, placing her numb hand under her shirt, and onto her wounded sided. She sighed when she no longer felt blood under her palm—But why was she so cold? She couldn't help but question as she removed her hand from under her shirt.

"So." She spoke up, looking at him. "Where are we headed now?"

"We?" Link's ears gave a small twitch, and she could hear the tone of excitement in his words.

"Yeah." She laughed a little, yet had to stop when the action caused a sharp pain to stab her in the side. "**We**."

"Well." He hummed. "**We** are going to the Forest Temple."

"The Forest Temple." Kagome repeated as she placed pressure on her wounded arm, trying to not to hiss from the unwanted touch. "Sounds **wonderful**."

* * *

Merry late Christmas everyone! Hope you guys liked it!


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